Dancing on your Rollerblades
by bossy narwhal
Summary: When a rollerblading party brings the figure skating world together outside of competition, Victor stumbled in Yuuri's life at the time he needed it most. Will their new found friendship lead to happiness or heartbreak? Set as if Yuuri didn't perform Victor's routine that went online, therefore was never coached by him. Takes place after the Worlds competition post GPF.
1. Prologue

**Hey.**

 **Welcome to my first attempt at writing anything huge in probably about a year! I hope you are all proud of me. Just to be clear, I have been uploading this story already on AO3 but I have decided to upload it here too because why not.**

 **I have a few chapters written up but I will be going through them one by one doing some editing and then uploading them as soon as I am done. Depending on my procrastination levels, you may end up with all the chapters by the end of the day... Let's find out shall we?!**

 **Enjoy x**

* * *

Dear to whoever this gets sent to because writing individual invites takes up too much of practice time,

I hereby invite you to a little soirée to celebrate me surviving another year without all your drama causing me to drop dead, however the precise number of years does not need to be mentioned. At all. Ever.

Seeing as we will all be in the same country for the GPF I am going to make the most of it and force you to spend even more time in each other's presence. So, after the final we are all meeting at a roller rink wearing one of your competition outfits because I say so.

Therefore, I shall be seeing you all soon in America for the Worlds final. I guess you should probably text me to let me know that you will be there.

With all my love

Chris G x

P.S Victor, make sure you bring that blond protégé of yours no matter how much he protests

P.P.S. Yuri K, you are not getting out of this one, you will be attending on pain of humiliation regarding last year's banquet ;)

* * *

 **From Vitya**

 **To Me**

I think that's a great idea Chris and thanks for inviting Yuri too. He won't admit it but he's happy to be included

 **From #Phichit**

 **To Me**

I can take pictures, right? What happens in the roller rink doesn't stay there, right?!

 **From Yuuuuuuri K**

 **To Me**

I really have no way out of this? Also I have no idea what you are talking about regarding banquet but I really don't want to find out so I guess I have no choice.

 **From Me**

 **To Yuuuuuuri K**

Nope, definitely no way out of this one darling. I am shocked that you don't remember such a memorable banquet, maybe I will have to show you the photos one day

 **From angry russian yuri**

 **To Me**

Why the fuck do I care about your birthday? I have no interest in the fact that you are turning TWENTY SIX YEARS OLD you moronic idiot. I'm only turning up for the free food.

 **From angry russian yuri**

 **To Me**

I CAN ALSO MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS. Don't use the old man to get to me. Лох

* * *

 **I hope this little prologue has piqued your interest in this story and that you will continue to join me for the rest of the chapters. Feel free to leave me reviews if you spot any mistakes I have missed in my edits or if you just want a chat and favourites/follows to make me a happy writer!**

 **BN x**

 **Russian:**

 **Лох - loser**


	2. Chapter 1: The Boys Are Back In Town

**Welcome to chapter 1! I am using song titles for the chapters because I couldn't think of anything more original to be honest! This chapter's title is by Thin Lizzy**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Yuuri was aware that he was already late to the party, but he couldn't stop himself from pausing outside the building. He hadn't been in the company of so many skaters outside of competition before. The lights glaring through the numerous windows were bright and cycling through a rainbow of colours, highlighting the skater standing alone outside in his favourite skating outfit from his career, a navy suit like leotard underneath matching trousers with intricate swirling patterns picked out in gemstones and sequins. Yuuri took a deep breath and started to move towards the building, hoping to manage to sneak inside and join the group with as little fuss as possible.

Yuuri had been worrying about this particular event since Chris decided he had some kind of blackmail material on Yuuri that he wouldn't want anyone else to see. While Yuuri had no idea what this material might be, he wasn't going to risk it being revealed to the world. The main source of Yuuri's worry was the only other person to receive an individual postal script included in the invitation. Victor Nikiforov. The god of figure skating himself and Yuuri's long-time idol. Ever since Yuuko had introduced Yuuri to the world of skating, Victor was the one that inspired Yuuri to practice his heart out every day and to love what he did, just in the hope that they could share the ice one day.

While Yuuri's dream had just been granted to him a few months ago, at the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri had self-destructed at the news of his dog's death and been an absolute mess during his performance, leaving him in last place. The World's competition had been a slight improvement but still something that Yuuri wasn't totally happy with as his nerves got the better of him once again. While he hadn't fallen on any of his jumps this time, his landings were shaky and he had to downgrade a few of them to triples instead of quads to ensure he wasn't going to injure himself in a bad landing. This brought down the technicality score considerably and while the execution of his step sequences and general footwork was as always, practically flawless, it wasn't enough to get him a score worthy of above 5th place.

As Yuuri walked through the main double doors to the roller rink, he was hit with the sound of cheesy 90s pop and laughter from the other skaters. Yuuri sidled around the edge of the rink in order to sneakily have a look at the other skaters who attended while on his was to hire his roller blades. Most of the skaters were easily recognisable by the costumes they wore to previous competitions and it became obvious to Yuuri pretty quickly by the sheer volume of bodies on the rink that some skaters who hadn't made it to the World's final had come along anyway just to join in. Yuuri almost had to duck out of sight at one point as he caught sight of his best friend from his training back home in Detroit, Phichit Chulanont. If Phichit had seen Yuuri in that moment, his subtle entrance would have been completely ruined as his best friend would have almost certainly called him over to greet him and attract attention to them in the process.

However, in the process of trying to avoid Phichit, Yuuri manage to successfully very nearly flatten the birthday boy himself, Christophe Giacometti.

"Yuuri! I'm simultaneously glad you came but also upset that now I can't show off all the wonderful pictures that I collected from the GPF banquet." Chris wrapped Yuuri up in a hug but allowed his hand to wander a little too far south for Yuuri's liking, but after being friends for a while, he knew that this was just Chris' way and to draw attention to it would make things much worse for himself in the long run.

"Uh… hi, Chris." Yuuri managed to stammer before Chris finally released his hold on his body, but only so the older man could grab his hand and being to drag him in the direction of the main desk.

"Someday the truth will come out, I promise you that." Chris said with a small chuckle, "but for now, let's get you some skates so you can join in with the fun, maybe get you a glass or two of something to drink too." He added while dropping one eyelid to cover the bright green iris in a seductive wink.

Yuuri didn't have much choice other than to follow Chris to the desk and pick up his skates for the evening. The feeling of having skates on was not unusual for Yuuri however the feeling of gliding over carpet on the way to the rink was a slightly new feeling as the uneven surface of the ageing rugs was a lot more treacherous than anything the familiar face of the ice had thrown at him. Yuuri took Chris' hand again with a small blush covering his cheeks to keep himself upright while he got used to the roll of the wheels. As Chris took advantage of the hand in his and dragged Yuuri towards the rink once again, Yuuri grabbed a glass some something alcoholic looking from a passing table and under the scrutinizing gaze of his friend, downed the glass in one go. He was rewarded with a large grin from Chris.

The sudden smooth of the polished wooden ground of the rink itself was a relief to Yuuri as it felt like he was back in a familiar environment with the glide of the skates over the unyielding floor. As expected it didn't take long for Phichit, in his red and gold suit, to spot Yuuri and skate over to him at a breakneck pace. After a quick greeting and several selfies, the younger skater dragged Yuuri towards the centre of the rink where they began to hash out the beginning of a funny, short pairs program with the newly found liquid courage Yuuri had just added to his system.

After a short while, Yuuri began to feel a pair of eyes following him around the room and paused his antics with Phichit in order to catch his breath and have a look around. While he didn't catch anyone's eye, he did notice a flash of silver from one side of the rink as the owner of said hair turned suddenly to face an angry looking blond. However, it was of course the silver haired man that held Yuuri's gaze. This was because that hair in particular belonged to a certain idol of Yuuri's whom the mere sight of was enough to make Yuuri freeze and almost crash into Phichit.

"Woah, Yuuri! Watch where you're going!" Phichit said as he grabbed Yuuri and guided him to one side of his body to stop the two colliding. "What's got your head in a spin, huh?" Phichit glanced over in the direction that Yuuri was facing after making sure his friend was alright. "Actually, you know what? No need to answer that, it was Victor, wasn't it?" he asked with a sly grin. Yuuri nodded shallowly before grabbing Phichit's arms and turning them around so that he was facing away from his idol once more.

"Let's just skate, okay? No interruptions this time." Yuuri said in a shaky voice before taking the lead in their roughly hashed out pair skate.

* * *

Victor was aware that he was dramatically early for the party. Sadly, the young blond skater standing to his left was also aware of this fact.

"Victor, why the fuck are we here right now? Chris isn't even here yet for crying out loud." The harsh tone of the skater standing beside Victor perfectly matched the bold outfit of red and pink flame like patterns on a stark black body suit that he was wearing. He had even left his hair down, unlike during his performance, to enhance the image of someone who did not want to be sociable that evening. Victor himself was wearing the outfit from his favourite routine. A white dress shirt under a waistcoat that faded from a deep, rich fandango pink to the palest rose shade in the perfect ombre effect, detailed with black accents and gold chains.

Before Victor could answer his companion a voice floated towards the pair from somewhere inside the building.

"Au contraire little Yuri, I am in fact already here. I just had a few things to sort out in the back room." Chris spoke with a cheeky lilt in his voice which just screamed 'innuendo'. Practically everything about Chris implied a shocking amount of sexuality due to his favourite and go-to theme for his skating performances. The birthday boy had chosen his 'Intoxicated' routine outfit for the evening, a black number with an indigo sash the crisscrossed his chest and was held together with a bright silver stud. "How are my two favourite Russians doing?"

"I'm not your favourite anything." Yuri said venomously and trudged away to the other side of the large room in a sulk.

"He loves me really" Chris stage whispered to Victor with a wink, before the two of them follow Yuri towards the desk to grab some skates.

Victor was like an overexcited puppy in these kinds of situations. When he was free to let go of the titles and expectations, Victor loved nothing more than being able to be himself. As more skaters began to arrive the party really kicked off. Victor had spent quite some time conversing with skaters he knew from previous competitions as well as being introduced to some new faces who were rising in the ranks and beginning to make names for themselves. After a while, Victor noticed that Yuri had forgone the idea of socialising and instead had decided to skate in lazy circles around the buffet table outside of the rink and away from the rest of the congregation.

"Yuri, come on. Join in with the rest of the party." Victor said as he bounded over to the young skater as best he could while wearing rollerblades on uneven carpet.

"Why don't you make me." Yuri spat back. "I told Chris I was only here for the food so I am planning on keeping to that."

"Aww come on you spoilsport, maybe we could talk about a new routine for you as we skate." Victor knew this was a low blow but one that Yuri was never going to turn down. As expected, the eyes hidden behind a long blond fringe brightened at the thought but he tried to play down his excitement in order to maintain his image.

"I thought you would have forgotten about that since you seem to be becoming senile in your old age." Yuri stated with a sneer. After a few moments of silence to imply that he was thinking about Victor's offer, despite the fact the decision was made the split second the offer was given, the blond spoke again. "You know what, fine. I'll skate around with you but only to talk about a new routine. Deal?" Victor couldn't hide the smile that broke out from his face and lit up his eyes.

"Deal. Come on, let's not waste any time." Victor had already dragged Yuri halfway back to the rink by the end of his sentence and before Yuri had the chance to pull away from the demanding grip of the older skater.

Suddenly the two were back on the rink and working through idea for new step sequences and jump combinations, the rest of the party dimming into the background as they worked on their craft. After an hour had passed, the pair began to run low on fresh ideas that would surprise the audience and Victor suggested they took a break and watched their fellow competitors to see if they could inspire any new creative ideas.

Victor and Yuri leant back against one side of the half wall surrounding the rink to observe their fellow skaters. It didn't take long for Victor's eyes to be drawn to a pair near the centre of the floor. Both seemed familiar to Victor in some way but his eyes were mainly drawn to the hypnotic effect of the step sequences being executed by the older looking skater in a navy jacket with delicate sparkly details. Victor couldn't determine exactly what it was that caused his gaze to linger, but he was certainly glad he did. The two young skaters were clearly having a lot of fun performing a strange and probably not completely planned pair skate. The improvised movements of the two made Victor smile as he watched them twirl and dance together.

"Oi, what the fuck are you looking at?" Yuri said poking Victor in the side to try and get his attention. "Victor! What the fu-" Yuri followed the older man's gaze towards the centre of the rink. "What's so special about those two? They're barely even coordinated. They look like two baby deer who haven't worked out how to move their limbs yet."

Victor noticed that the man his main focus had been on had suddenly stopped concentrating and had begun to cast his gaze around the whole room as if looking for something or someone. Victor realised that he would be in the skater's line of sight very soon and quickly grabbed Yuri's arm, much to the younger's disgust, in order to turn them both away from staring. During the unplanned and abrupt movement, Victor realised this behaviour was not like him at all. What was it about this skater that made such a normally confident person turn his head away and lightly blushing?

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Yuri exclaimed but Victor just smiled at him to feign interest before turning slightly to watch his new obsession out of the corner of his eye. He watched as the other skater grabbed the man in question to stop his movement before catching his eye suddenly. Before Victor had the time to turn away again, the younger skater's expression dropped from surprise into a cheeky smile and even dropped a wink in Victor's direction before he was turned away by his friend and was dragged away to the other side of the rink.

* * *

 **Well there you go, an actual chapter for you. Seeing as I already have the next chapter written up would you like a sneak peek?**

"Alright my loves, how about a little bit of entertainment? I hope you all still remember the routines to go with your enticing costumes because we are going to have a little performance from you all!"

 **That's right, it's sexy skating time!**

 **BN x**


	3. Chapter 2: Shall We Skate

**So I've given up on the editing already so feel free to point anything out in a review :)**

 **Shall We Skate - Yuri! on Ice soundtrack**

 **Enjoy**

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Victor spent the majority of the evening trying to catch a glimpse of his elusive skater. The dark costume the man was wearing helped him to blend into the shadows created by the lack of overhead lighting, the rink being lit by a plethora of lasers and stage lights that created swirling patterns of colour on the floor. Instead of looking for the dark blue shade, Victor found it much easier to search for a pop of bright red in the form of the other skater who had not left the side of the young man. The boy in red kept occasionally catching Victor's eye and tilting his head in the direction of the quieter skater as if registering Victor's interest in him. Sadly, the skater Victor had his eye on seemed intent to keep his eyes from wandering anywhere near Victor's direction, to the point where if Victor moved into what he believed was the edge of the young man's vision, he would suddenly only be able to see softly curling locks of inky black hair as the man turned to keep his back to Victor.

Victor was unsure just how much time had passed since he first caught sight of his new obsession but he was brought out of his trance by a loud call from Chris which had been enhanced by the use of a megaphone.

"Alright my loves, how about a little bit of entertainment? I hope you all still remember the routines to go with your enticing costumes because we are going to have a little performance from you all!" Chris was standing on a table with one hip flung to the side to accentuate his figure in the tight suit. "As it's my party, I volunteer myself to go first. So, if you would all kindly get your pretty asses off of my floor, I would be most grateful." Chris signalled for Victor to come over to where he had perched himself for the announcement and asked for a lift down. As Victor grabbed his friend around the waist to bring him to the floor, he could feel a set of eyes watching him closely and turned quickly after practically throwing Chris to the ground. He was rewarded with a smack on the behind from Chris for being a little careless, but more importantly a flash of rich brown eyes that belonged to his new favourite skater, before they were turned away just as swiftly.

"Hey Chris, who is the skater with the glasses next to the one in red?" Victor asked as he supported his friend who was still trying to gain his footing after being dropped.

"Huh? Oh, that's Yuuri Katsuki, he has been in the same finals as the two of use for the past few competitions, so I wouldn't bring up the fact that you had no clue who he was to his face if I were you. Also, the one in red is his training mate Phichit, if you're interested." Chris replied with a smirk, already realising that Victor had no interest in the Thai skater whatsoever, before shooing Victor away from the rink so he could begin his performance.

The sultry initial piano notes began to play throughout the room as a spotlight was suddenly turned on and focused on Chris in the centre of the rink. As Chris began moving in time with the music in an almost perfect copy of his on-ice routine, minus the jumps for safety's sake, Victor had to try his best to focus on the performance rather than allow his eyes to wander to try and seek out the mysterious Yuuri that had captivated him.

As the final few notes and guitar riffs played out and Chris finished his final few steps, the room burst into applause and Victor took the moment of distraction to locate Yuuri who was standing slightly behind the other skaters on one side of the room.

Victor's attention was swiftly drawn back to Chris as a hand came down on his shoulder and shoved him onto the rink. The small wheels attached to the base of Victor's shoes allowed him to roll into the centre of the room with very little effort. Victor took this push from Chris to mean that he was to be performing next. He glanced in his friend's direction quickly to tell him the piece of music he needed but Chris was already scrolling through a list on his phone that was connected to the speakers throughout the building, which all started to play the soft opening of Victor's skate music. Victor was just as careful as Chris to avoid all of the jumps in his routine, but added and extra spin or turn to add some of his natural flair. He also made sure that the expressive arm movements that he performed just after his triple flip was directed right to where he last saw Yuuri, even if the spotlights were blinding him to the point where he could barely see the audience. He was feeling confident nearing the end of his routine and decided to give it his all for the final combination spin, even including a few of the small jumps in the middle before ending his performance alongside the final notes, with his arms crossed and raised towards the ceiling.

As Victor performs a few bows and skates around the rink to soak up the applause, his eyes refocused as the spotlight was dimmed and let Victor let his gaze dart to the newly named Yuuri, who was watching with rapt attention and a look of awe. A faint blush spread over the young man's cheekbones before he backed away from the side of the rink to disappear into the shadows as Victor moved towards the edge of the rink. Victor glided gracefully to the opening in the half wall where Chris was there to greet him with a light hug before shoving the next unsuspecting skater onto the rink for their performance. Victor didn't pay much attention to who was going next, the music that started to play even faded into almost non-existence as Victor glided around the edges of the room in the search of his dark-haired beauty.

Victor caught sight of Yuuri as his slid through a partially open door that led to a side street outside. There was no hesitation as Victor hurried after Yuuri in order to keep track of where he was headed. Once outside, Victor didn't have to search for too long before he found Yuuri, hunched down, balancing on his skates, propped up against the wall with his arms around his knees. Victor could tell that the young skater was shaking slightly and hadn't seemed to notice that he had been followed out. In a moment of blind panic as his mind couldn't seem to decide what the best way to approach the situation was, Victor acted without thinking and retreated a couple of steps only to fling open the door he and Yuuri had just walked through to feign leaving the building from the inside, allowing it to crash against the wall behind it with a clang that reverberated down the thin alleyway. The sound shocked Yuuri to the extent where he lost balance on his skates and was sent ass-first onto the floor.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Victor asked hurriedly, as he rolled over to offer Yuuri a hand back to his feet. Victor watched as Yuuri shyly looked up firstly at that hand that had been offered to him and then to the face of the man the hand belonged to. Victor saw the blush on Yuuri's face darken slightly as a look of shock and recognition crossed his face.

"U-uh, thank you." Yuuri stuttered as he took Victor's hand, there was no-way that he was going to be able to stand up onto his wheels without some help. Once Yuuri was standing once more, Victor watched as Yuuri glanced at him through the strands of hair that had fallen over his face before realising he was still holding Victor's hand and pulled it out of his grasp. Victor pouted slightly at the loss of warmth coming from the other man's grip and instead brought his hand up to brush the strands of fringe away from Yuuri's face, fingers lingering as he brought his hand down the side of the younger's cheek.

The blush on Yuuri's cheeks spread further around his face and began to tint the tips of his ears in red as he pulled away from Victor's touch as if the touch had given him an electric shock. Victor was mildly disappointed at the loss of contact but tried not to let it show in case he scared off the man in front of him. Yuuri looked tense as he shied away from Victor, tilting his head to let his fringe cover part of his eyes once more.

"What's the matter Yuuri, is something on your mind?" Victor asked. The light that shone in Yuuri's eyes at the sound of his name was unmistakable.

"Y-you know who I am?" Yuuri asked, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. Victor recalled what Chris had told him a few moments before and decided it was for the best to spin the truth, just a little bit, to spare Yuuri's feelings.

"Of course I do," Victor said with a blinding smile "You and I have been competing together in a few finals recently, and I must say, your step sequences are just divine." This was a small lie because Victor couldn't remember ever seeing Yuuri on the ice before, but after watching him closely practically the entire evening up to that point, Victor could tell that Yuuri's footwork was unrivalled in technique and precision.

"Thank you." Yuuri said softly, seemingly gaining confidence as the conversation went on. "I never did very well in those finals though, all my jumps kept going wrong" he added as an afterthought. Victor suddenly reached out to grab the lightly shaking arms that had been wrapped around Yuuri's midsection.

"No, Yuuri. Don't put yourself down just because a few jumps didn't go to plan, besides, just getting to a final of any senior competition is the real showcase of your talent." Victor notices the slight quiver in Yuuri's arms as he grips them gently. "Come on, I don't know about you but it's pretty cold out here and my outfit isn't built for the cold." If Yuuri realised how stupid that sentence sounded, as both of their costumes were made for their performances on the _ice_ , he didn't comment on it and let Victor take his hand and guide them both back inside.

* * *

"So, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why were you outside by yourself when I found you?" Victor asked as the door to the outside world closed behind the two skaters and they were once again surrounded by the general hubbub of the aftermath of another performance in the rink. Yuuri stopped abruptly and let Victor's hand fall from his own.

"Oh, I uh, I…" Yuuri took a deep breath and tried to stop his hands from quivering. Victor moved to stand directly in front of him and took the younger's chin in between his thumb and forefinger, before turning Yuuri's head so they were looking eye to eye. Victor didn't say anything more but tilted his head to one side slightly as he continued to watch Yuuri as he struggled to find the right words. "Well, I guess I was a little freaked out about performing in front of everyone." Yuuri said, feeling confident that the ambient noise of the roller rink would drown out his words. "Besides, my performances have never been as good as everyone else's and that's before you factor in the unfamiliar surface…" Yuuri stopped mid-sentence as he looked in Victor's eyes again and noticed that his smile didn't quite meet his eyes anymore.

"Yuuri." Victor whispered, his tone deadly quiet. "You are a superb skater and I'm sure you would do wonderfully here too, besides, we aren't even doing the jumps here because we don't want to injure anything." Yuuri pulled away from Victor's reach and looked at the floor again.

"It's not just that, I guess I was afraid of performing in front of you again too." Victor realised that maybe Yuuri didn't want his support in the form of comforting touches and resigned to just let him talk. "Somehow you being here is making me more nervous than us both being in a final together. I suppose maybe because that had been my dream for so long that I had almost gotten used to the idea of you watching me skate but this is something new that I should still be okay at but, what happens if I mess it up and let everyone down?" Yuuri had begun a pacing like motion that turned into a slow glide back and forth due to the skates he was wearing. As he drifted further away from Victor for what felt like the fiftieth time, Victor noticed a corner or a rug had been flipped up at some point and become a tripping hazard, also that Yuuri was headed straight for it. Victor let out a short warning cry as he jumped towards Yuuri to try and prevent him falling.

Yuuri turned around to see a flash of silver fly towards him, just as his left heel caught on the upturned corner of carpet and he started to topple backwards. A slight yelp was let out by the tumbling skater as Victor caught hold of his flailing wrist to try and keep him upright but all that motion accomplished was to cause Victor to lose balance at the sudden addition of weight on the end of his arm. Victor was floundering just as much as Yuuri as they both toppled to the ground.

Yuuri felt a sharp pain in his ankle as he hit the floor but was suddenly more aware of the weight hovering over his chest and the sensation of someone else's breath dusting over his forehead. He opened his eyes a fraction to see Victor perched over him, his knees either side of his hips and hands ghosting over his chest and sides as he checked for any injuries.

"Oh god, Yuuri are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Victor said hurriedly as he checks over the skater lying beneath him one final time before coming to a stop with his hands either side of Yuuri's face.

"Um, maybe my left ankle." Yuuri managed to say. "I think I felt it twist as I hit the floor." Victor immediately scrambled off Yuuri with all the grace of stumbling baby giraffe, and sat by Yuuri's feet, legs crossed, before pulling Yuuri's left foot into his lap. The sharp hiss of pain from Yuuri at the sudden movement was enough to inform them both that he was, in fact, injured. Victor looked over at him with a knowing expression.

"Ah, well I can't tell how bad it is because of your skate but we probably need to take it off and have a look, is that okay?" After a brief nod from Yuuri, Victor undid the laces holding the sides of the shoe together and slowly slid Yuuri's foot from the skate. "Hmm, it does look like it's swelling up a little. Maybe we should get you back to the hotel and put some ice on it." Victor instructed after a brief examination of the pale skin exposed.

"W-wait. You said we? _We_ should go back?" Yuuri stuttered as he realised that his idol wanted to go home with him, even if it was purely innocent.

"But of course, I couldn't possibly leave you to make it back on your own, now could I? Chivalry isn't dead you know!" Before Yuuri had a chance to retaliate, Victor hand grabbed his wrists and hauled him to his feet, arm slung around Victor's shoulders for support. Yuuri was extremely aware of the fact that he had practically his entire side pressed against Victor's and that wasn't helped by the fact that Victor decided to snake his arm around Yuuri's waist for further support. "Ok then, let's go get your shoes back and then go find a taxi." Victor said brightly as the pair hobbled over to the main desk.

* * *

 **First contact has been made yaaaay. Hit me up with those sweet reviews/favourites/follows if you so choose. Here is your teaser for chapter 3:**

When drinking with a Russian, one chooses vodka, right?

 **BN x**


	4. Chapter 3: Kickin In

**Welcome to chapter 3. I hope you are all ready for some alcohol consumption?**

 **Chapter Title song by Adam Lambert**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Yuuri stared up at his long-time idol as his hand was offered to be grabbed for what felt like the thousandth time in that evening alone. This time, Victor had jumped out of the taxi the two skaters had just been riding in, and run around the back to open Yuuri's door and help the injured man tumble out of the vehicle. The whole drive back to the hotel from the roller-rink was filled with a comfortable silence and Yuuri's hand being somewhat abducted by Victor's and help over the latter's knee. Every so often, Yuuri felt a gentle squeeze from Victor's fingers to help keep him grounded in whatever unforeseeable circumstance he suddenly found himself in.

Now, out of the taxi, the silence continued as two men were once again squished together to provide support for Yuuri while they shuffled into the hotel at a snail's pace. Victor left Yuuri propped up against the wall of an elevator while he went to press the button to take them up to the right floor. All of the skaters had been put up on a single floor of the hotel so Yuuri wasn't surprised that Victor knew which button to press from the large number to choose from. He was surprised however when Victor didn't ask for his room number and just clutched Yuuri to his side once more and began practically carrying him down the corridor and past the door to the room Yuuri was sharing with Phichit.

"Oh, uh, Victor you've actually just gone past…" Yuuri's voice was cut off as the pair stopped outside a door at the end of the long corridor and Victor rummaged in a side pocket of the coat he had thrown over his skating costume and produced a key.

"That's because I morally can't let you go until I know you have put some ice on that foot of yours." Was Victor's reply to the question Yuuri hadn't really posed but was hanging on the air between them. Before Yuuri had a chance to explain that he would be fine if he was just dropped off in his room, he was pulled into Victor's room and the door was pushed shut behind him by the heel of the other skater. "I also thought that maybe we could have a drink and get to know each other a little better." Victor added as he plonks Yuuri down on one edge of the double bed that was the main feature of his hotel room. Victor heard shuffling as he stepped over to the mini fridge that came with his room to grab one of the ice blocks he kept in the freezer section for injury related emergencies such as this. As Victor turned around to face the bed, he saw Yuuri leaning against the headboard with his bad leg stretched out over the mattress while the rest of the young man's body was curled around a pillow that he had grabbed from beneath his body to get more comfortable.

Victor wasn't really sure what kind of alcohol he grabbed from the minibar, or how much it would cost him for that matter, but he really didn't care about those little details in that moment. Victor walked around the bed and collapsed in a pile of downy duvet next to Yuuri's foot. Victor positioned the ice carefully around the bones of Yuuri's ankle before wriggling back up the bed to prop himself up against the wall next to the younger man and set a fifteen minute timer on his phone.

"Soooooo…" Victor drawled with a smirk on his face, waving the mini bottles of alcohol around slightly. "I was thinking that maybe some of this would help take your mind of the pain. Maybe we could turn it into a game so I can learn more about you at the same time!" He said, the idea making him bounce around slightly like an overexcited puppy.

"Oh, I um, I don't really drink that much" Yuuri began to say, tucking his head further into the pillow and clutching it tightly to his chest, overcome with a sudden wave of nerves.

"Awww, come on Yuuri. It'll be fun!" Victor whined out Yuuri's name which sent a blush of light pink running over his skin to cover his cheekbones. Victor was unrelenting and took hold of Yuuri's fingers to pry them away from the pillow. Once the offending object had been wrenched away from Yuuri and thrown halfway across the room unceremoniously by the enthusiastic Russian, a bottle was placed in Yuuri's hands. With Victor's fingers covering his own, Yuuri had no choice but to hold onto the bottle and try not to pay attention to the fact that the fingers ensuring his grip seemed to have no intention of leaving his anytime soon.

"O-okay, I guess that could be fun." Yuuri stutters at the thought of spending a considerable amount of time alone and in close proximity to Victor, in the man's room of all places!

"Well how about we ask one another questions and if we don't want to answer we have to drink at least a decent sized sip, okay?" After Yuuri's tentative nod Victor jumps into his first question. "What is your relationship with the guy you spent most of tonight with? Phichit, right?" Victor thought he'd start off with lighter questions to try and help Yuuri get used to the game.

"Oh um, Phichit is my best friend. We have been rink-mates since he moved to Detroit a couple of years after me and I guess we just really hit it off. We end up rooming together for most competitions and we live in the same flat back home too." Victor was watching the younger man carefully and nodded at his explanation with a small smile on his face. "Ok, my question is, which skater do you get on with best?"

"Hmmm. I get on with most of the skaters I have met because I never want to seem cold or aloof even if I sometimes come across that way when I'm focussed on competition. But I am probably closest to Chris to be honest, but don't tell of my rink-mates that!" Victor added with a wink. "Anyway, I'd like to think that we are getting on really well so you are probably high on the list too." Victor ignored the light blush on Yuuri's cheeks and decided to ramp up the interrogation with a cheeky grin. "So, I assume a gorgeous man like you has a girlfriend?" Yuuri's face went very red at that point. "Or boyfriend?" Still no reply. "Ex-lover then? Come on Yuuri, tell me something or it's drinking time!" Victor said hurriedly." Yuuri's cheeks somehow managed to become stained an even darker shade of red as he started to unscrew the top of bottle of vodka. When drinking with a Russian, one chooses vodka, right?

"That seemed like more than one question to me Victor." Yuuri whispered before raising the bottle to his lips. "Kanpai." Yuuri took rather a large gulp of vodka. As the burn of the alcohol slowly worked its way down Yuuri's throat to settle in his stomach, the next question to be asked was being considered but Yuuri's train of thought was interrupted by Victor's voice.

"Wow. If you aren't up for answering that one, we are in for a very interesting night" Victor said, a wide grin crossing his face to cover up the surprise of Yuuri being able to take the shot of vodka like a pro. Victor opened his mouth to continue speaking but instead let out a small squeak of surprise as a suddenly more confident Yuuri slapped a hand over the Russian's mouth.

"Nope, my turn to ask a question." Yuuri kept his hand over Victor's mouth as he formulated a question that he thought might get Victor to take his first drink to get them on an even playing field. "What is your most embarrassing moment ever?" Yuuri asked. When he didn't remove his hand from Victor's mouth straight away, the older man peeked his tongue out from between his lips to lick at Yuuri's hand. That prompted Yuuri to move his hand away very quickly and Victor couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh, that would probably when Yakov caught Chris and I dancing around in the showers to our rendition of 'Like a Virgin' completely naked after a competition a few years ago." This was not what Yuuri what expecting. At all. The blush that had only just faded from Yuuri's face reappeared in full force as he began spluttering on that saliva that had built up in his mouth to calm the after effects of the vodka. Victor laughed a little harder at Yuuri's reaction and reached out to rub his hand over the younger man's back to try to help ease the coughing. Once Yuuri had regained that ability to breath and had leaned back slightly into the pressure of Victor's hand, the questions continued. "Hmm, ok Yuuri," Victor asked while trailing his fingers over Yuuri's back in soft spiralling patterns, "what made you want to take up competitive figure skating?"

"Well, there is a rink near to where I live back in Japan that I used to visit with my friend Yuuko when we were young. We started off just playing around and having fun and improving slowly, but then one day, Yuuko showed me a video of the Junior Grand Prix final." Yuuri paused for a while and snuck a glance over to Victor. The sharp blue eyes were watching Yuuri closely and with a certain softness. "Well, she actually showed me _your_ skate from that final. I guess there was something about how you moved and the emotion that you created that made me want to meet you. Actually, it was more than that in the end. I wanted to meet you, yes, but what I really wanted was to be able to share the ice with you. That was my dream for so long and it pushed me to work hard so I could compete against you some day." Yuuri seemed to realise that he had been rambling on about his admiration for Victor as if he wasn't speaking to the man himself and stopped abruptly.

"That's a really heart-warming story. I'm so touched that I was the one to push you to reach for your dreams and that I was one of your dreams for a while. What is your new dream now that we have skated together a few times?"

"Oh, no no no. It's time for my question." Yuuri pulled away slightly so he was able to twist his body to face Victor. "Actually, I think you need to take a drink for trying to break the rules of the game." Yuuri said cheekily. Victor complied with the request and grabbed the open bottle of vodka that was still in Yuuri's grasp and brought it up to his lips. Just as Victor knocked back a shot, his phone began to play the opening notes from one of his previous performances as a sign that fifteen minutes had passed and that the ice needed to be removed from Yuuri's ankle. Victor handed the small glass vial, that was nearly empty at this point, back to Yuuri and folded his body in half to grab the ice block. While Victor was distracted, Yuuri took the opportunity to drink the rest of the vodka that had been returned to his hand.

The rest of the evening was spent asking and answering and drinking. The majority of the drinking was done by Yuuri however, due to Victor's lack of shame and Yuuri's innate embarrassment. It had gotten late by the time the two skaters began to hear the other skaters returning to their rooms along their shared corridor. Victor was the only one sane enough to realise this and decided it was probably best for them to wrap up their game, which had still been going on with a variety of distractions along the way. Much had been learnt during the course of the evening's entertainment but Victor couldn't bring himself to end the questions. The thought of finding a way to freeze the moment and spend the rest of his life holed up in a small hotel room with Yuuri was too tempting and Victor had to resist every urge to just lock the door and keep Yuuri hostage. One more question wouldn't hurt though.

"Yuuri," Victor had to shake the slightly giddy man's shoulder to regain his attention "Another question for you, do you have any pets back home?" The tipsy Yuuri's eyes locked onto Victor's in a heartbeat and started to blur behind a sudden wave of tears. Victor could see that he had struck a nerve and didn't know how to help in any way so just put his hand on Yuuri's back again to try and sooth him in some way.

"M-my dog. V-Vi-Vicchan." The tears began their free fall from their starting point in the corner of Yuuri's eyes. "He was my dog, b-but he died. A few years ago. I-I don't know why I'm crying." Yuuri's soft sniffling broke out into full on wailing as he threw his arms around Victor and cried onto his shoulder. Victor was taken slightly by surprise and allowed the weight of the younger man to topple him over so they were both lying down across Victor's bed with Yuuri cradled in his arms.

"Shhh Yuuri. It's ok. You're allowed to be sad and I'm sorry for asking." Victor said in a soothing whisper as one of his hands travelled up over Yuuri's neck to lightly grip the skater's head in place against Victor's shoulder. Victor traced his fingertips through the smooth curls framing the back of Yuuri's neck while he held Yuuri to try and calm him down. The cries coming from Yuuri slowly began to quieten to light sniffles and then sporadic huffs of air as his breaths evened out to signify that the young man had fallen into slumber. Victor gently removed the hand still positioned against Yuuri's back to reach over and grab the glasses that were pressing into the delicate skin of Yuuri's nose. Once the glasses had been removed, Victor folded them delicately and placed them on the bedside table next to his head. He stretched his hand up to brush against the wall in order to find the switch that controlled the lighting of the room. The room was plunged into an almost blackness, the only light creeping in coming from the crack under the door allowing the illumination from the corridor into the space.

In the faint glow of the room, Victor watched the young man curl into his chest with a kind of fondness he had not felt for anyone in a very long time. Victor felt his eyelids starting to close as the soft breeze ghosting over his exposed collarbone lulled him into a light doze. He already knew that there was something special about his Yuuri and he would do anything to find out what it was that was so alluring. Victor gripped his fingers tighter into the loose fabric of Yuuri's shirt as he fell deeper into sleep, determined not to let the young man go.

* * *

 **Hooray for cute ever so slightly tipsy cuddles. Remember to review/favourite/follow to make me a happy human. Here is your teaser for the next chapter:**

Yuuri's eyes landed on a small square of paper that had slipped from Victor's pillow onto the mattress. Yuuri snatched up the Post-it note with trembling fingers and had to bring it close to his face and squint his eyes to make out the lettering written in an unfamiliar hand.

 **Post it note messages? Whatever could this mean?**

 **BN x**


	5. Chapter 4: Lost Boy

**Hey. Got another chapter here for you.**

 **Chapter Title by Troye Sivan**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Yuuri wakes slowly as a beam of light peeking through a gap in the curtains slides across the bed towards his face. The light pounding echoing around Yuuri's skull distracted him for a moment as he took a minute to try to recall the events of the night before. The young man didn't move for several long moments as his tell-tale blush spread over his cheeks. The memory of Victor's fingertips gliding over his own sent small shivers down Yuuri's spine as he opened his eyes to the light of the morning. Yuuri almost instantly realised that while he couldn't see much more than fuzzy shapes, he was not in the room he had been sharing with Phichit. As the details of the night began becoming clearer, Yuuri became extremely self-conscious to the fact that he had fallen asleep in Victor's bed and apparently, Victor had let him. Yuuri turned onto his side so that he was facing the opposite expanse of the huge double bed, expecting to see blue eyes and silver hair staring him down. He was, however, faced with a rumpled sheet and a slight indentation in the pillow. The indications that Victor had spent the night were obvious but Yuuri was still very anxious as to why the older man had left without waking him.

While looking around the room to search for the man in question, Yuuri's eyes landed on a small square of paper that had slipped from Victor's pillow onto the mattress. Yuuri snatched up the Post-it note with trembling fingers and had to bring it close to his face and squint his eyes to make out the lettering written in an unfamiliar hand.

 _Yuuri,_

 _I'm sorry that I couldn't stay with you until you woke up this morning, I was called away quite suddenly by Yakov and I couldn't bear to wake you. You looked too adorable to be disturbed. I would like to see you again before we both leave though. Can you meet me in the coffee shop across the road from the hotel at 1?_

 _I hope you slept well_ Мой дорогой.

 _V x_

 _P.S. Your glasses and a glass of water are on the table on my side of the bed_

Yuuri smiled softly as he ran his fingers over the sloping words written especially for him by his long-time idol. He got up warily as the thumping in his head made Yuuri feel a little bit queasy. Once the sickly feeling in his stomach had faded, the young man crawled over the bed to sit against the pillows used by Victor as he ran his hand over the bedside table until his fingers came into contact with the cool metal of his glasses. Once the blue rims holding the prescription glass framed Yuuri's face. He picked up the water that had been left for him and took another look at the note he had been left. The unfamiliar Russian characters stood out as Yuuri had no clue what they meant, and he made a mental note to ask Victor for a translation later that day.

As Yuuri slowly began to feel more human, he stood from the bed, testing the strength of his ankle before allowing it to take his weight and began lightly hobbling around the room. He grabbed the abandoned ice pack from where it had fallen to the floor and placed it back in the mini freezer. He found his phone stuffed into the pocket of the jacket he had worn over his skating outfit, which had unsurprisingly been quite uncomfortable to sleep in. The jacket had been placed on the chair in one corner of the room, which Yuuri had slumped into in order to check on his notifications. Due to the fact that the phone had been left unattended to for the night, it had very little charge left in it at that point in the morning. Yuuri only had enough time to read a few text messages from Celestino and Phichit, all with increasing levels of worry before a text from Phichit which implied that Chris had seen him leave with Victor and had told Phichit not to worry, complete with several emojis of winking faces.

After collecting up the few possessions of his that Yuuri found in Victor's hotel room, he left the room with a small smile on his face as he made his way down the corridor to his own door. Once Yuuri had made it inside and plugged his phone into its charger before he fell onto the bed with a happy squeak as he held up the yellow Post-it once more. Halfway through his third re-read, a loud knock jolted him out of his daydream. Yuuri carefully placed his note on the counter and peered through the small peephole in the door to see his coach standing on the other side with an expression which screamed impatience. Yuuri had barely opened the door a crack before the boisterous Italian had pushed his way into the room.

"Ok Yuuri, I have no interest in knowing what you were doing with Victor last night but it would have been nice to let Phichit know before you disappeared." Yuuri had the courtesy to look suitably chastised before Celestino continued. "Anyway, I trust that you are mostly packed, we leave for the airport in twenty minutes." Yuuri's apologetic expression morphed into one of shock instantly.

"Twenty minutes? But our flight doesn't leave until 5 and it's barely eleven am!" Yuuri was panicked at the thought of missing his coffee meeting with Victor but couldn't bear to admit it to his coach, whom he looked up to highly. "I-I was going to meet up with Phichit at 1 seeing as he is going back to Thailand for a few days before coming back to Detroit."

"Yuuri, you spend almost every minute of every day with Phichit and contrary to popular belief I am in fact aware of how the internet works, so I know you two can talk about whatever it was that you wanted to talk about on a skype call. Anyway, we have to get to the airport to make sure that everything goes smoothly and we don't miss the plane."

"Ok Celestino, fine. Could we leave in half an hour though? I just want to give my phone a little bit longer charging so I can text Phichit to let him know I won't be able to meet him." After Celestino reluctantly agreed and left the room to allow Yuuri space to pack his things, the young skater slumped against the wall next to the door. The realisation that he would not be able to have a proper and completely sober conversation with Victor as well as the fact that he had no way of contacting him. If Victor ended up being abandoned in the café, thinking he had been stood up, Yuuri thought he would never be able to look him in the eye again.

The tears were starting to collect in the corners of Yuuri's eyes as he closed the zip on his suitcase containing all the belongings he had brought for the competition. A knock was heard once again calling Yuuri to the door. Yuuri's phone and charger were shoved into the bag that had been assigned for hand luggage and then the door was swung open to reveal Celestino tapping his foot against the worn carpet.

"Ah, finally. All packed Yuuri? That's good let's go then!" Yuuri's suitcase was grabbed by the coach and dragged down the corridor, leaving Yuuri behind in the doorway to shoulder his carry-on and follow Celestino down the hall to the check in desk. After handing in their keycards, Yuuri and Celestino jumped into a taxi and were suddenly being whisked away.

Once the pair arrived at the airport, Yuuri turned on his half-charged phone to text Phichit. After a text-based conversation which lasted several hours, Phichit agreed to get a message to Victor and succeeded in calming Yuuri down enough to not completely freak out when his phone died completely and left Yuuri alone for the remaining time before the flight as well as the duration he was in the air as well.

* * *

Victor's impromptu meeting with Yakov and the rest of Team Russia had gone just as well as anyone was expecting. Victor waltzed into the designated meeting room half an hour late, proceeded to ignore everything that was said, including Yakov's rant at his tardiness, before leaving after a very short amount of time claiming boredom. He had quickly returned to his room, hoping against hope that he would find Yuuri still curled up under his duvet but was met with an empty and distinctively cleaner room. The first thing Victor checked for was the note he left on his pillow. Once the majority of the bedspread had been up-ended and shaken to near feather explosion, Victor accepted that Yuuri had not only found his note but taken it with him. A fact that warmed Victor's heart and made him turn the lightest shade of pink.

The time seemed to pass slowly as Victor waited for it to approach a reasonable time to go to meet Yuuri. Victor looked through his phone after abandoning it for the majority of the night before and while reading through several lewd and suggestive messages from Chris, Victor realised that he hadn't asked for Yuuri's number or left his on his note. A mental note was stored in the dusty corner of Victor's brain reserved for short term memories, to make sure that by the end of the day there was a new contact in his phone.

Eventually the large clock on the wall of the hotel room ticked over to quarter to one. After a quick internal discussion, Victor decided it was a polite enough time to go and meet Yuuri. He threw a lightweight coat over his shirt, made sure his room key was in the pocket and stepped out into the corridor. As Victor began to walk down the hall towards the lift, he paused as he passed a door about halfway to his destination. Victor realised with a start that this was the room that Yuuri was gesturing to when they were walking past to get to Victor's own room the previous night. After a brief moment of contemplation, Victor stepped up to the door and rapped his knuckles against the wood.

There was no sign or sound of anyone moving from within the room after a minute or two of Victor waiting outside. Victor decided that this must have meant that Yuuri had already left for the café and he practically fell over his own feet in his hurry to reach the lift that would take him down to the ground floor, and therefore closer to Yuuri.

A few minutes later found Victor pushing open the door to the café over the road from the hotel and stepping into the soft breeze created by a humming air conditioning unit installed in the ceiling. After a brief scan over the patrons in the room, Victor realised that Yuuri wasn't actually there waiting for him. A part of Victor was glad that he had gotten there first so that Yuuri wouldn't have been left at a table alone to worry that Victor was going to stand him up, but the other side of the older skater was confused as Yuuri hadn't been in his room and apparently hadn't made it to the café yet. Victor decided to take a seat and wait a while for his friend to show.

Half an hour and two cups of coffee had passed and Victor was starting to get jumpy. An uneasy feeling had settled in his stomach and he regretted not getting Yuuri's phone number before he left. His eyes flew to the glass door every time a customer entered and couldn't help but sigh in disappointment when he didn't see the dark hair and glasses combination. In an attempt to calm his nerves, Victor connected a pair of headphones to his phone and brought up some videos of Yuuri's competition skates. Victor wasn't surprised to be mesmerised by the younger man's footwork in the complex step-sequences that could even give Victor a run for his money, but Yuuri's jumps were shaky at best when they weren't complete wipe-outs. Victor already had some pointers that he wanted to tell Yuuri in order to try and help his landings but that would require Yuuri actually meeting him that afternoon. A few more minutes passed before Victor's head once again jerked up to see who had entered the café. The man who entered was not Yuuri but Victor was familiar with the blond curls that came bounding towards his table with a small cup in his hands.

"Waiting for a hot date Victor?" Chris asked as he took the seat Victor had expected to see Yuuri in.

"Something like that" Victor replied. "Yuuri should have been here almost an hour ago, but I haven't heard anything from him." The look of surprise on Chris' face quickly morphed to an expression close to pity at the sorrow in Victor's voice.

"Well, have you tried texting him? Or calling even? I don't think he is the type of guy to ditch you without any kind of explanation." Victor's eyes seemed to soften in a way that almost looked like guilt.

"I actually never got his number. Or give him mine. I left him a note this morning telling him to meet me here and that was it." Chris' eyes lit up at this statement and gave Victor a cheeky glare.

"Left him a note eh? Could this mean that dear, sweet Vitya took a boy home with him last night?" Victor reached over the table to give his friend a light and teasing shove.

"Not like that Chris! He was hurt and I wanted to make sure he was ok." Victor averted his eyes slightly. "Admittedly, that did lead to some alcohol consumption and him staying the night." Chris raised his eyebrows suggestively and Victor was quick to correct his friend's filthy imagination. "Just sleep. Christ, what is wrong with your head?" Chris' laughter filled the small space of the café.

"Well after the banquet last year, I am well aware that when you add alcohol to Yuuri's system things get wild." At the look of confusion on Victor's face, Chris was quick to pull out his phone and pull up his photo gallery. "Now don't tell me you forgot too! I guessed that Yuuri's memories would have been, let's say, compromised but you? Well I feel like it is my duty to remind you." Chris thrusted his phone into Victor's line of vision and Victor's heart stopped. The pictures of Yuuri hanging off various people and object while half naked were seemingly endless. Victor's eyes widened as he spotted himself in the background of some of the images, seemingly oblivious at first but then obviously becoming more aware of the rowdy and clearly very drunk Yuuri. As more photos scrolled past, Victor spotted something that dredged a memory out from the very depths of Victor's mind.

"Woah, woah. Go back a few pictures." Chris complied and paused when he found the picture Victor had been looking for. The image had captured the moment a flushed Yuuri had grabbed Victor's shoulders and held him close. Victor stared at the image and began to remember the events that had transpired just after that picture was taken.

A warm chest pressed up against his. Soft breath ghosting over his lips. Deft fingers tracing circles into the shoulders of his suit.

A soft sigh escaped Victor's lips as the memory engulfed his senses. The sudden movement of the phone in front of him tore Victor away from the world of his memories and back to the reality.

"You know what Victor, I think I might be able to give you a hand with your little predicament." Victor looked at Chris with a sudden hopefulness that lit his face.

"How?" Victor breathed out his response in anticipation.

"I just so happen to have young Yuuri's phone number. We do go way back you know." Chris said with a wink. Chris grabbed Victor's phone from where it had been abandoned on the table and added a new contact to the long list of friends, family and associates. "There. Now don't say I don't do nice things for you and you now owe me one okay?"

"Of course Chris! Anything." Victor practically jumped out of his chair in excitement to run around the table and jump on Chris' lap to hug him. "You are the best friend anyone could ask for."

"Hang on there, calm down. Don't want to be giving the wrong signals here, I'm a taken man don't you know." Chris said with a mischievous lilt in his voice.

"Oh are you now?" Victor said and backed up to return to his seat. "You had better tell me all about him." Victor hesitated slightly and interrupted Chris right as he was about to start talking, "Right after I text Yuuri." Chris' laugh once again filled Victor's ears as he sent out a quick text, making a note to change the contact name as soon as possible.

 **To Sexy Yuuri not angry Yuri (Chris is the best friend ever)**

 **From Victor N**

I hope everything is ok. I was a little worried when you didn't show but I'm sure you have a good reason so don't stress too much, okay! – Victor

PS I hope you don't mind I got your number from Chris… x

* * *

 **Be sure to let me know what you think of this fic so far with a review or favourite/follow. Here's what's coming up:**

Yuuri steeled himself and spent a few minutes constructing a text to send back to Victor on the back of a piece of paper from his desk. After several attempts, he opened the text and began to write his message.

 **BN x**

 **Russian:**

 **Мой дорогой - My Dear**


	6. Chapter 5: Master Plan

**I just love this chapter, ok?! I hope you do too!**

 **Chapter title by Adam Lambert**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Yuuri stepped off the train back in Detroit at the station nearest his and Phichit's shared flat with a sigh. The flight had been short enough and the train ride not overly taxing but Yuuri was emotionally drained from the events of the day. The thought of Victor sat alone in a café waiting for him to show up had haunted Yuuri's mind for the entire journey but he knew that at that point nothing could have been done. All he could wish for was that Victor didn't hate him too much and would still speak to him the next time they met for a competition. If Yuuri even made it to another competition. Yuuri let himself into the flat and went straight to his room to dump his bag off as well as get his phone back on charge so he can let his parents and Phichit that he made it home safely. As he waited for his phone to be usable once more, Yuuri plodded out into the main living area to check on the kitchenette. As expected, the fridge was just as empty as he and Phichit had left it in their hurry to leave around a week before. Yuuri reached out to grab a stack of post-it notes to make a shopping list before freezing in place as his fingers brushed over the edge of the small pages.

Yuuri couldn't bring himself to pick up the tiny squares of paper and ended up rushing back to his room to rummage in the pocket of his jacket where he found his note from Victor. The now familiar script smudged slightly under the pressure of Yuuri's fingertips which prompted him to pull his hand away quickly. The young skater walked over to the notice board by his desk to pin the note to the cork where it could be seen from anywhere in the room without being damaged. Before he turned around he noticed a blue light lighting up a small portion of the wall. He reached over to grab at his phone which was flashing to inform him of several notifications. A few of the texts were from Phichit, giving him updates on his own journey back to Thailand as well as some of the gossip he had missed while in the air. There was also a text from Chris consisting of just a winking emoji which worried Yuuri significantly. The message that stood out however, was the one from an unknown number.

 **From Unknown**

 **To Me**

I hope everything is ok. I was a little worried when you didn't show but I'm sure you have a good reason so don't stress too much, okay! – Victor

PS I hope you don't mind I got your number from Chris… x

Yuuri stood stock still for several moments in shock at the message. He didn't know whether to thank Chris or kill him. Yuuri's fingers shook as he entered Victor's number into his contact list. He switched back to the message in time to see an ellipsis pop up over Victor's name, indicating the other man was typing something to him. Yuuri clicked off the messaging app in time to 'miss' Victor's message. He did however look at the text in his notifications menu in order to read the message without the messaging application marking that he had seen it.

 **From Victor Nikiforov (!)**

 **To Me**

Hey, are you home ok? I can see you got my message, I just wanted to check up on you – V x

Yuuri steeled himself and spent a few minutes constructing a text to send back to Victor on the back of a piece of paper from his desk. After several attempts, he opened the text and began to write his message.

 **To Victor Nikiforov (!)**

 **From Me**

Hi. Sorry for not meeting with you, I was taken to the airport early by my coach and my phone died so I didn't know how to contact you. I hope you aren't mad. Y

Yuuri hit send and practically threw his phone away from him before he could change his mind and send something horrendously embarrassing. A reply came through a few moments later.

 **From Victor Nikiforov (!)**

 **To Me**

Ah no worries Yuuri, I'm just glad that it wasn't anything serious. How was the flight, must have been a long one back to Japan? I guess you must have just landed – V x

Yuuri was expecting Victor to be a lot angrier than he appeared to be but he knows it can be hard to convey emotions through texts so he was still a little wary.

 **To Victor Nikiforov (!)**

 **From Me**

Oh I actually decided not to go home but back to Detroit so it was only an hour and a half flight. Celestino making us get to the airport 5 hours early was quite frustrating though, especially with no phone. Y

The more Yuuri texted with Victor, the more confident he was getting. The two skaters texted for quite some time, most of it being Victor complaining that he didn't get to talk with Yuuri more in person and cursing the ground that Celestino walked on. Yuuri even found himself explaining why he had decided not to take a break back at home because he felt like he had let them down with his performance and placing in the competition. The young man jumped slightly at the sudden sounds that played from his phone signalling an incoming call. Unsurprisingly, Victor's name was displayed on the screen and Yuuri touched the accept call icon hesitantly, his confidence suddenly diminished as he picked up.

"H-hi."

"Yuuuuuri," Victor whined "You're not a disappointment to anyone! If anything, you should be proud that you made it to the final, that's no mean feat. I'm sure that everyone back home is proud of you for doing well, even if it isn't the result you wanted. Besides, you did so much better than your performance in the GPF so that's something to celebrate." Yuuri huffed out a shaky breath in response. Victor was quick to continue his praise of Yuuri's performances and skating as a whole.

Victor apparently was staying in his hotel for another night before heading back to Russia and so they were both in the same time zone to notice that it was getting ridiculously late considering the fact the phone call began at eight and it felt like no time at all had passed. Yuuri's stomach began to complain which alerted him to the fact that it was approaching midnight and he hadn't eaten anything since his measly lunch at the airport because the food served on the flight was limited and rather disgusting looking. He managed to get Victor to agree to let him go and get some food with the compromise that he promised to answer Victor's call when he got home to Russia the following evening. After a drawn-out farewell, Yuuri hung up the phone and fell backwards off his desk chair, suddenly grateful that his room was so small that his back came into contact with the soft spring of his mattress.

* * *

Victor leaned back against his pillows as he hung up the phone, a soft smile on his face as a plan began to form in his mind. Before he could talk himself out of doing anything rash, he had always been the spontaneous type anyway, Victor had picked up his phone and was looking up the next flight to Detroit. When he found the information regarding a flight that left the airport at 2am that very night, Victor didn't hesitate before throwing his belongings into his large suitcase and carryon before hauling them and himself down to the lobby. After his room key had been hastily dropped off at the reception desk, Victor scurried outside and into a taxi that was handily just dropping off a couple outside his hotel. The trip to the airport took enough time for Victor to try to get in contact with Yuuri's friend. While it did take Victor a few minutes, and scrolling through Yuuri's following list, he soon found Phichit's profile on Instagram and dropped him a follow before typing out a direct message.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

Hi! So, I wanted to surprise Yuuri at your rink in Detroit seeing as he is back there instead of home because he seemed a little upset earlier. Do you think you could help me out by telling me when he is most likely to be there and giving me some directions? – V

Victor knew that Phichit had read the message almost immediately, due to his reputation of being glued to his social media, but the young skater seemed to be taking his time with his reply. Victor ended up staring at his phone just waiting for Phichit to answer and practically had to be thrown out of the taxi after they arrived and he made no immediate attempt to move. Victor was unable to spare any time checking for a reply once he began the process of getting himself onto the plane. A last-minute ticket was bought due to the insistence of his world-renowned puppy dog eyes and the occasional reminder of his occupation and popularity. The suitcase was checked in without any difficulties and Victor ran from one side of the airport to the other in order to get through security and into the VIP waiting lounge as quickly as possible. He had barely made it through the door however when his flight was announced and the smooth voice called out for passengers to make their way the boarding area to be checked in once more, before being allowed to head to the plane.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, Victor was using the outer limits of the airport Wi-Fi to check his messages before the hostesses asked him to turn his phone off. Luckily, he had time as he was one of the first passengers on the plane, being in first class, and the rest of the economy passengers were still being herded into the aircraft. Victor carefully ignored a number of texts from Yakov, apparently, someone had seen him running out of the hotel and his coach was fuming, instead tapping on the Instagram app. His eyes widened when he saw that Phichit had replied to him.

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit-chu**

I really hope I'm not going to regret this but I think Yuuri needs this more than you think he does. To be honest, he's at the rink more often than not. If you find a timetable online and avoid any public skating hours, you'll probably find him. Hit me up with whichever hotel you are staying in and I will let you know how to get there (or just get a taxi I guess). You'd better not break him Victor or I swear to god, you won't be able to stand next season, let alone skate and win.

Victor's heart leapt at the prospect of seeing Yuuri again soon but Phichit's message had left him feeling a little bit lost in more than one way. Firstly, he didn't have a hotel to stay at once he had landed, a fact that he was trying to resolve as quickly as possible while the plane was still being filled with travellers. Secondly, as he was entering his details into the first Detroit hotel he had found that looked decent enough, he thought about what Phichit had said about hurting Yuuri. The mere thought of Yuuri hurting because of something he had done sent his stomach twisting itself into knots and Victor vowed to try to never be the source of the skater's tears. While he knew that even between the closest of friends, arguments still happened, he had promised himself right there and then that he would never leave Yuuri to suffer through anything alone ever again.

Victor tapped a few more buttons on his phone to confirm his hotel booking, he switched his phone to airplane mode and tucked it away into his jacket just as an air hostess had clocked him and had begun to make her way over to tell him they were about to leave. Victor saw her off swiftly with a tight smile and little wave before settling back into his chair. The plane left the runway smoothly and Victor let himself fall into a light nap to waste the time he spent in the air, travelling closer to his destination.

* * *

Yuuri woke before his alarm as was usual and rolled off his bed in a tangle of limbs and sheets. Once freed, he padded into the kitchen area to attempt to find food. Due to his unexpected texts and phone call with a certain silver haired skater, he hadn't had time to go shopping so there was nothing left in the apartment after he had scrounged for the few scraps of snacks that he had eaten the night before. Yuuri decided that he would go for a run and pick up a few things from the nearby market on the way back to help clear his head and get something edible at the same time.

A breathless Yuuri stumbled through his front door a couple of hours later, the soft plastic of his shopping bags cutting into his fingertips. After hastily dropping off the bags on the counter and throwing the cold products into the fridge, Yuuri collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh. While the run had been good to occupy his mind for a while, the thoughts of recent failure started to creep back as Yuuri tried to relax. The only thing that really helped when Yuuri had been caught in a slump was messing around on the ice by himself. No pressure to land jumps, no coach trying to push his training, just Yuuri and the ice. After a quick glance to the clock to check that the designated public skate hours would be over soon, Yuuri picked himself up off of the sofa and grabbed his skating bag containing his skates, a water bottle and a spare set of clothes and practically ran out of the door to get to his safe space.

After arriving at the rink and sending a quick smile and wave to the kind woman who sat at the front desk, Yuuri ran into the changing rooms to put on his skates. He was still wearing the clothes from his run earlier and decided that they would be more than suitable for his intention to just skate around mindlessly for a little while. After filling his water bottle from one of the taps in the room, Yuuri pushed open the door that led to the rink but stopped as the soft sounds of music reached him. Yuuri couldn't recognise the music but as he drifted closer to the ice the music became louder and was being accompanied by the scratching sound of metal skates against ice. He turned a corner and suddenly the rink was in full view, but Yuuri's eyes were instantly attracted to the performer currently running through what looked like the beginning of a new routine.

Yuuri watched as Victor turned and caught his eyes. A small smile replaced the concentrated frown and the older skater pushed a few buttons on his watch to start the music from the beginning. Yuuri watched in awe as he realised he was seeing a whole new routine from Victor, probably before anyone else, not including Victor's coach although he couldn't be completely sure on that. It was clear that Victor was still trying to hash out the final composition of the routine but it was still hypnotising to watch. Yuuri was pulled in by the flawless footwork and seductive spins and found himself pressed up against the barrier of the rink to watch. The only obvious sign that Victor was holding back in any way for this practice was the fact that most of his jumps were triples or doubles instead of the expected quads. The music came to an almost abrupt stop and Yuuri let out a breath he didn't know he was holding while he took in Victor standing perfectly still besides the graceful heaving of his chest. Yuuri barely even noticed when Victor paused the music before it had the chance to start again and glided over to stand in front of him.

Victor had to wave his hand in front of Yuuri's face to snap him back to reality.

"It was that good huh?" Victor laughed as Yuuri felt the blush creep over his skin. "I'm still not sure about the order of some of the step sequences and I might shift some jumps around but," Victor could see that Yuuri still wasn't fully concentrating on his words and was just staring up at him in shock. "Yuuri, are you okay?"

"I guess I'm just a little surprised." Yuuri said, pleased that he didn't stutter for once. "I thought you were going back to Russia." Victor nodded and laid his hand on top of Yuuri's which was resting on the edge of the rink wall.

"I decided, seeing as we missed our coffee date, that I would come here to talk to you face to face instead of doing it over the phone when I got back. Besides," he added with a shrug, "I wanted to see you skate." The look of shock on Yuuri's face only became more pronounced.

"You want to watch me skate?" Yuuri whispered, not sure that he had heard the older man correctly.

"Yes, I do. I know you can do wonderfully Yuuri and I want to see it. I thought there would be less pressure on you here than in a competition so maybe you wouldn't feel as nervous?" It was phrased as a question to encourage Yuuri to open up to Victor a little bit more.

"I- I guess I could try." Yuuri internally cursed himself for allowing the stutter to come back. "What would you want me to skate?" The smile Yuuri received was blinding.

"Anything! You could skate anything and I would be more than happy. Thank you for doing this Yuuri!" Victor had started bouncing around on his skates and took the hand that had still been under his and dragged the younger skater to the entrance to the rink. Victor threw an arm over Yuuri's shoulders to steady himself as he secured his skate guards and encouraged Yuuri to return the gesture as he took off his own pair in preparation to skate. Yuuri could feel the blush spread further as he felt Victor's body against his own and almost mourned the contact when Victor gave him a not so delicate shove to send him drifting over the ice. He did a few laps and spins to warm up before heading back to where Victor stood to select his music choice. He knew there was only one routine that he trusted he could perform well enough for his idol and had to fight the embarrassment he felt as he pulled up the song on his phone and handing it to Victor so he could start the music once Yuuri was in position.

Yuuri stood in the centre of the rink, head bowed, and tried to block out all thoughts of Victor standing just a few metres away. As the light piano notes started being projected around the rink, Yuuri could only see his best friend Yuuko as he remembered the first time he had performed this routine for her. It helped Yuuri to imagine that he was back home, in sleepy Hasetsu, where nothing really of note ever happened and it was suddenly easy for him to forget that Victor was watching him.

In a flash, Yuuri was standing with his arms crossed above his head, in the ending pose of the skate. The music had stopped and the silence that engulfed the rink was suffocating. Did Victor not like it? Had he just made a fool of himself in front of Victor Freaking Nikiforov? Yuuri knew he had downgraded all the jumps to triples, mainly because he hadn't had any time to warm up, but also because he struggled to land a few of them. Surely Victor wasn't upset for that seeing as he had just done the same with his own routine? Yuuri turned to face the other skater, gaze slightly lowered in shame. However, when he saw that Victor was stood completely still with a hand over his mouth and tears welling in the corners of his eyes, Yuuri began to skate over to make sure nothing was wrong. As Yuuri reached the exit to the rink he was jumped on by a shaking Victor.

"Yuuri, that was incredible!" Yuuri didn't think he had ever heard Victor sound so sincere before and allowed himself to wrap his arms around Victor to return the hug. "How did you get that routine so smooth?" Victor whispered into Yuuri's ear.

"I actually spent a long time working on it to help with my depression after the GPF last year." Yuuri admitted just as quietly. Victor pulled back suddenly but took both of Yuuri's hands instead and helped him off the ice and back into his skate guards. The pair sat on the bottom row of the spectator stands and Victor spent a while explaining just how well Yuuri had done. An age seemed to pass before Yuuri actually managed to accept any of the praise and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips to signify that he was touched by all the effort Victor was putting in to make him feel better about himself and his skating.

"You did so very well Yuuri, maybe my presence was able to help you in some way." Victor had let go of one of Yuuri's hands to touch a fingertip against his chin in thought. Yuuri was just beginning to missing the contact when he felt long fingers entwine with his own once more. "I have had the best idea." Yuuri looked at Victor in confusion. "I am going to stay here for a while as your rink-mate to help you with your confidence! It's the off-season now so Yakov won't really need me back in Russia for a little while and I can work on my routines too of course but I really want to help you see and believe just how good you are-" Yuuri tuned out what Victor was saying after a few sentences to try and come to terms with Victor's plan. His head was spinning with the possibility of spending even more time with his idol, the events of the last two days were already more than enough for Yuuri to handle. His determination decided to kick in at that point and Yuuri realised that this opportunity was everything that he had ever wanted and more and he would be damned if he was going to let it slip through his fingers.

"Ok, let's do it. You can stay." Yuuri interrupted Victor's ramblings and he was given the biggest, cheesiest smile, that somehow looked like a heart, he had ever seen.

"Amazing! I thought it would take a lot longer to convince you but we are going to have the _best_ time ever!" Victor's enthusiasm was endearing as the older man threw himself into another hug with Yuuri. All Yuuri could do was try to keep himself upright with the additional weight that hit him, hug back with all his might and laugh alongside his new rink-mate.

* * *

 **I hope you liked this chapter as much as I do, maybe even enough to review/favourite/follow? (I'm shameless, I know!) Here is your preview for the next chapter:**

"There is, in fact, a spare room in the apartment I share with Phichit seeing as he is going to be in Thailand for a few months. Maybe you could stay there while he is gone..."

 **Look guys, there is talk of moving in together... They grow up so fast.**

 **BN x**


	7. Chapter 6: Lean on Me

**Prepare your emotions guys, this one pulls on the heartstrings (in a good way!).**

 **Chapter title by Bill Withers (but I listen to the Glee version, sue me)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Yuuri and Victor had sat at the edge on the ice rink for quite some time after Victor had announced his desire to stay. He decided it would be better to deal with the inevitable fallout from his coach while he remembered rather than forgetting to inform him and causing the old man to have a heart attack. Under Yuuri's watchful gaze, Victor finally pulled up the text chain he had with his coach, ignored all of the increasingly caps locked messages and tapped out a quick message of his own with one hand as he was unwilling to let go of Yuuri completely.

 **To Yakov**

 **From Me**

Hey, so I've decided to stay in America a little more to work on my routines for next season with some new inspiration. Don't worry about me, I have a place to stay and I'll be back in a few months. Keep an eye on little Yuri for me.

Victor looked up from his phone to see Yuuri smiling at him and responded by running his fingers over the palm of the younger skater's hand. He hears his phone inform him of the reply he had just received but Yuuri had captured his attention for the time being.

"So, um, where are you actually going to stay while you are here?" Yuuri asked hesitantly as if he still couldn't really believe what was happening.

"Well I'm in a hotel right now but it's a fair distance from the rink so I might end up moving to one a little bit closer." Victor picked up his phone again with the intent to look for a closer hotel but Yuuri put his free hand over the phone and pushed it away.

"There is, in fact, a spare room in the apartment I share with Phichit seeing as he is going to be in Thailand for a few months. Maybe you could stay there while he is gone and then you can tell Yakov that you can guarantee you will be back because you won't have a room anymore?" Yuuri flushed slightly and looked away from the blinding grin that Victor sent his way.

"And spend more time with my new friend Yuuri? I'd love to! I guess we'd better ask him if that's ok first." After Yuuri nodded but continued looking across the empty expanse of the rink. Victor pulled up his phone once again and opened up Instagram.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

Hey again. I found Yuuri (thank you!) but now we have another favour to ask… Would it be ok if I borrowed your room while you are back home?

The reply came almost immediately and, unlike the one from Yakov, Victor read it instantly.

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit-chu**

'We' huh?! Sure you can, just promise me you will look after my children and don't leave me a mess to get back to, deal?

Victor's smile spread wider as he typed out another message while absentmindedly playing with Yuuri's fingers again.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

DEAL. Also, aren't you a little young to have children?

Phichit replied to this with a winking face and nothing else so Victor took the opportunity to refocus on the skater sitting beside him. Yuuri hadn't seemed to realise that Victor had finished his virtual conversation with Phichit and he remained focused a spot on the opposite wall while occasionally tensing his fingers at a movement against his palm that Victor had made with his own digits. Victor squeezed Yuuri's hand which caused him to bring his gaze back to Victor's.

"Phichit sends his permission on the understanding that I don't make too much of a mess and look after his children?" Victor phrased the statement as a question in the hope that Yuuri would take the hint to explain. The young man in question responded with a shy smile with a hint of sass in his eyes.

"Oh, he means his roommates." At the confused look he was met with, Yuuri added a little more detail but not enough to satisfy Victor's need to know what he was going on about. "Don't worry about them. I'm pretty sure you are going to adore them and Phichit will struggle to keep you from trying to smuggle at least one back to Russia when you go." Victor took the hint to drop the subject and let whatever was being referenced remain a mystery for the time being.

"Fine. In that case, I'm going to need to run back to the hotel to pick up my things and then I can move in properly! Are you going to join me Yuuri?" After a moment of contemplation and a fleeting look of realisation and embarrassment which Victor did not miss, Yuuri shook his head slightly.

"I think I probably should, uh, tidy up a bit first, before you come over I mean." Victor could tell that this probably wasn't the whole truth but didn't want to push Yuuri too far.

"Well if you think so, can you tell me the address and I will meet you there in a hour or so?" After Yuuri's nod, Victor stood up gracefully, stretch out the muscles that had started to tighten due to being sat in one position for too long and grabbed Yuuri by both hands to haul the younger skater to his feet. "Ok then. Shall I walk you out good sir?" Victor's teasing grin was met with a lopsided smile and small blush as he wrapped Yuuri's arm around his own and began to walk them both over towards the outside world.

* * *

Once Yuuri had seen Victor clamber into a taxi and begin the journey back to his hotel, Yuuri practically sprinted back to his apartment in record time. The first thing Yuuri made sure to do was to take down every single one of the posters in his room and stash them all behind some storage boxes that lived in the space under his desk. After that, Yuuri ran around the living space shoving things into piles in an attempt to make the room look somewhat organised. He even grabbed the vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard for a quick once over of the floors. As Yuuri was struggling to stuff all of the coils of power lead connected to the vacuum back where they belonged, he heard a knock on the door.

He couldn't believe that an hour had passed so quickly but a glance to his watch confirmed that it was more than likely to be Victor standing on the other side of his front door. He crept over to the door apprehensively and steeled himself with a harsh breath before he pulled it open just as Victor was about to knock again, thinking that Yuuri had not heard him the first time. It turned out that the flat wasn't the first place Victor went after his leaving the hotel, as was evident by the bag of shopping he held in the same hand as his suitcase and the bunch of flowers in the other.

"Victor, what is all of this?" Yuuri exclaimed as he moved to one side to allow Victor a path into the apartment. As the older skater breezed into the flat, Yuuri reached out to grab one of the bags he was holding to try and relieve some of the weight. As his hand closed around the light plastic handles, he also felt warm skin that he had not been expecting. Both men froze and Victor turned to Yuuri with a striking smile. Yuuri felt the blush, that seemed to be a permanent feature since he met Victor, creep over his cheeks as he withdrew his arm. Victor seemed reluctant to let go and let his arm extend to the point of hyperextension before giving in and letting Yuuri move away towards the kitchen to put away the food he had purchased.

"Well I thought if I was living here then I might as well contribute to feeding us and I saw the flowers at a stall near the market and thought I would bring them as a thank you for letting me stay." Victor said, voice slightly louder than usual to reach Yuuri in the next room. Yuuri paused in the kitchen for a few seconds, regaining his composure before picking out a vase from the back of one of the cupboards and returned to the main room to find it empty and the flowers lying on the back of the sofa. After letting out a small tut of disapproval and placing the flowers, now in the vase, on the coffee table, Yuuri looked around for a hint as to where Victor had gone. His eyes widened in horror as he noticed the door to his room was opened slightly, and he knew that he remembered to shut it on his way out from cleaning.

Yuuri pushed on the door and let it swing open to reveal Victor sitting at his desk looking over the pictures that were pinned to the notice board with a small smile. The first thing that popped into Yuuri's head was that he was intensely glad he took down all of his posters but also was praying to every deity he could think of that Victor didn't think to snoop too far and look in the space under the desk. Yuuri did however, notice the exact moment when Victor's eyes fell on the post-it note he had written that Yuuri had pinned up.

"Yuuuuri!" Victor's eyes shone with an emotion that Yuuri couldn't quite place. "You kept my message, that's so adorable!" Yuuri blushed bright and walked over to Victor's side before taking the older man's hand.

"Come on, let me show you where you are going to stay." Victor reluctantly stood but didn't move with Yuuri to the door, choosing instead to look around a little more. Yuuri realised he would have to be a bit more persuasive. "I can introduce you to Phichit's children?" Victor's eyes lit with a gleeful fire at the prospect of finally being let into the secret and didn't resist the light tug on his arm any longer.

Yuuri made sure to tug his door closed once more before walking past the door to the bathroom, pointing it out to Victor briefly as they passed and paused in front of his best friend's room. Victor was practically vibrating with excitement and lunged into the room the second that Yuuri had turned the handle and cracked the door open an inch. Yuuri watched as Victor's eyes were instantly stuck on the large gilded cage sitting on a small table on the edge of Phichit's desk. Victor bounced over to the cage and let out a small whimper which had Yuuri's heart squeezing in his chest.

"Hamsters! Oh, they are so adorable, there are three of them? So cute! Hey babies, I'm going to be looking after you since your papa is away for a while." Yuuri remained stood in the doorway as Victor continued to fawn over the small balls of fluff scurrying around their home. Victor unlatched the door and scooped up the largest of the hamsters, an adventurous little blond Syrian hamster with a habit of sitting on people's heads to enjoy the view. "I'm going to name you Zoloto." Yuuri had no idea what the word meant and was just shushed cheekily when he began to tell Victor the hamsters actual names. He could see however that Victor really wanted to cuddle with the other fluffballs but didn't know what to do with the newly named Zoloto.

"He'll be fine sitting on your head if you want to grab another." Victor shot him a grateful look before depositing Zoloto in a nest of silver hair before reaching carefully back into cage to grab the next hamster. This one was slightly smaller and a light grey Siberian breed.

"And you, little one, are going to be Serebryanyy." The collection of Russian syllables rolled of Victor's tongue but Yuuri once again was left in the dark as to their meaning. Victor looked over to Yuuri for advice on where to put this hamster and he replied by tapping his shoulder twice. Once Serebryanyy was settled clutching onto the soft material of Victor's shirt, the final hamster was picked up. The small brown Roborovski hamster was a round ball of fluff that loved nothing more than curling up in someone's hand and falling to sleep.

"Last but not least, you shall be Bronza." Victor continued to stroke the little hamster's head as Yuuri's mouth fell open. While the name had been in Russian, it was similar enough to the English for Yuuri to work out Victor's naming scheme.

"Did you just name the hamsters Gold, Silver and Bronze?" Yuuri asked incredulously. Victor turned to look at him again and was faced with the nose of Serebryanyy but just pressed a tiny kiss there and replied to Yuuri as if nothing had happened.

"Of course, have you looked at them?" Victor raised an eyebrow and felt Zoloto wobble slightly on his head and reached up with his free hand to steady the little body.

Yuuri was speechless. He looked on as Victor cozied up to the hamsters and whispered to them in Russian. He felt lightheaded, feeling as though he was starved of oxygen despite his breathing and had to tear his eyes away from the man sat on the carpet in front of him. Yuuri let himself out of the room as slowly and quietly as possible so as not to disturb Victor and scurried back to his own room, shutting the door behind him softly. He sat on the edge of his bed and breathed deeply for a while. A drop of moisture fell onto the back of Yuuri's wrist and he reached up in surprise to realise that he was crying. Yuuri gave in to all the emotions that he had been bottling up since the end of the competition and let himself sob as he fell into the comfort of his duvet, clutching the nearest pillow to his chest.

* * *

Victor looked up to ask Yuuri a question about how they had gotten permission to keep his new adopted children in the flat, only to find that he was alone. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and resigned to put the hamsters back for the moment. Starting with Bronza, as she was already in his palm, Victor tickled her head, pulled her in for an eskimo kiss before allowing her to hop back into the cage before repeating the pattern with Serebryanyy and Zoloto. Once checking the door to the cage was secure, Victor rose to his feet and headed back into the living area of the flat. Yuuri was nowhere to be seen in the open space of the lounge, nor in the kitchen when Victor poked his head round the door. Victor wandered over to see whether the younger man had gone to the bathroom but stopped short when he heard muffled sniffles coming from behind Yuuri's bedroom door.

Without thinking twice, Victor hurried back into the kitchen to grab a cup of water before standing in front of Yuuri's door and knocking lightly. Since making that promise to himself to look after Yuuri properly on the plane, Victor had spent every free moment looking up ways to help console people on the internet and he felt like he already knew Yuuri well enough to be able to help him.

"Yuuri? Can I come in?" Victor leant his head against the door and waited until he heard a small noise of affirmation before letting himself in. "Hey Yuuri." The young man in question was curled up against the wall on his bed, face covered by his pillow but Victor could still see him shaking slightly. Victor walked over carefully and placed the glass on the bedside table before perching on the edge of the mattress. One of the main things that Victor remembered from his research was that sometimes people just needed to let the emotion out with a trusted presence to comfort them. Victor tugged on Yuuri's arms and pulled the man into his arms. While the position might not have been comfortable to start with, the initiated contact from victor prompted Yuuri to drop the pillow and throw himself into his idol's arms. Victor tightened his grip as Yuuri buried his face in crook of Victor's neck and felt tears begin to seep through his shirt to dampen his skin.

Eventually, the quivering in Yuuri's muscles fades as he takes deeper and more relaxed breaths but Victor refuses to let the young skater go. Once Yuuri was completely calm once again Victor loosened his grip ever so slightly in order to pull back and look into his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Victor asked softly, giving Yuuri a reassuring look. Yuuri looked as though he was debating opening up a little bit, but Victor ended up being given a small head shake before Yuuri returned to his place on Victor's shirt. Victor doesn't press any further, instead shifted both of their bodies so that he was laying in his back with Yuuri's head on his chest. Victor felt Yuuri's body freeze during his movement but was quick to reassure him with soft touches it the younger man's back as he held Yuuri close. The repetitive motion of Victor tracing spiral over Yuuri's spine, paired with the exhaustion caused by his break down lulled him to sleep almost instantly, leaving Victor alone to his thoughts.

Victor looked down at the mop of black hair in front of him and ran his fingers through a few curls before feeling himself start to drift off. In his last moment of consciousness, Victor spontaneously pressed his lips against the top of Yuuri's head and fell asleep with the feeling of hair under his cheek and Yuuri's breaths dusting over his chin.

* * *

 **I had way too much fun looking up pictures of different hamster breeds for this chapter and I think if you ever need a pick me up I would totally recommend finding cute hamster pictures to cheer you up! But to cheer me up you could always leave me a nice review/favourite/follow.**

However, instead of facing a mess of silver hair and pale skin, Yuuri found himself facing an abandoned pillow and crumpled sheets

 **Where has Victor gone I hear you ask? That would be telling.**

 **BN x**

 **Russian:**

 **Zoloto - Gold**

 **Serebryanyy - Silver**

 **Bronza - Bronze**


	8. Chapter 7: Jump

**Here you goooooo.**

 **Chapter title by Van Halen**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Yuuri wakes with a small stretch to pop the joints that had seized up overnight. As the fog cleared from the young skater's brain, the memories of the night before came creeping back. While what had happened between himself and Victor hadn't been scandalous, the thought of curling up into Victor's chest and falling asleep made Yuuri blush furiously. Yuuri had rolled over at some point in the night and was facing away from the side of the bed where Victor had situated himself and Yuuri had to steel himself before turning over as smoothly as possible to look at the men next to him. However, instead of facing a mess of silver hair and pale skin, Yuuri found himself facing an abandoned pillow and crumpled sheets. Yuuri was immediately bombarded with thoughts of fear as Victor had left him. Victor must have thought that Yuuri was too needy and couldn't face the idea of staying to comfort the younger man any longer. Yuuri tucked his face into the pillow that Victor had used and breathed in the clean scent that was left there which only succeeded in winding Yuuri's emotions up further. The smell of white violet and lime that Yuuri had already come to associate with Victor was overwhelming, along with the intoxicating scent of a home cooked breakfast that was likely dissipating through his flat from a nearby kitchen.

Deciding that Victor had probably left the flat and potentially even the country by that point, Yuuri managed to pull himself upright and then out of bed. He clutched Victor's pillow to his chest still as he wandered out of his room and into the main space of the flat. Yuuri didn't even register the fact that the delicious smell he had picked up on in his room was coming from his own kitchen and not from one of his neighbours. Yuuri did however stop short in the doorway to his kitchen when he noticed the silver hair that he had missed in his bed and the body that went along with it slightly leaning over the counter. The pillow fell from Yuuri's grasp in shock and confusion and the light thud of it hitting the floor was enough to alert Victor to his presence. Victor spun around to face Yuuri with a smile and held up a plate that was laden down with waffles of all things.

"Good morning sleepy head. I hope you don't mind but I woke up before you and decided that maybe you needed a treat for breakfast and went out to buy you a waffle maker!" Yuuri remained completely motionless with the look of shock still prominent on his face. Seeing that Yuuri wasn't likely to move voluntarily, Victor put the plate down and grab the tops of both Yuuri's arms to steer him towards the small dining table in the living room. Once Yuuri was seated securely, Victor disappeared back into the kitchen and re-emerged a few seconds later with the plate of waffles and an armful of toppings. Yuuri hadn't emerged from his state of surprise and had barely registered any of Victor's movements. He only snapped back to reality when he heard a sharp hissing noise and felt a sudden cool texture hit the tip of his nose. His sudden movement caused Victor to jump back from the place he had taken up directly next to Yuuri to avoid the splodge of whipped cream that flew from Yuuri's nose.

Victor's laugh surrounded Yuuri as the older skater moved back into the kitchen yet again to grab a plate of waffles for himself before settling down in the only other chair at the table. Yuuri reached up to swipe at the remaining cream on his nose before staring down at the waffles in amazement. He reached over to grab some of the fruit from a bowl that Victor had prepared to adorn his breakfast before allowing his gaze to life and focus on Victor himself. Considering Yuuri had expected the older man to be long gone by that point, he was still trying to wrap his head around the situation he found himself in. Victor seemed to associate Yuuri's shock with his still being half asleep and overwhelmed by the waffles and so decided to attempt to start a conversation.

"My mother used to make waffles for me after a big competition, no matter where I placed, so I thought I would share that tradition with you to try and cheer you up a little." Yuuri looked up at Victor again and saw the hypnotic blue irises prompting him to speak.

"My mum always makes me katsudon whenever I win a competition because it's really calorific and I can only really have it as a treat." Yuuri paused to look back at his food in contempt. "Needless to say, I haven't had some in a while, what with my scores and being here rather than home." Victor reached over suddenly to rest his hand on one of Yuuri's which had made its way to sit on the table top in between carrying forkfuls of waffle to his mouth.

"You miss home." It wasn't phrased as a question but Yuuri found himself nodding anyway. Victor's fingers tightened slightly on the back of Yuuri's hand. "Maybe you could make katsudon for yourself then? Would that help your homesickness?" Yuuri shook his head viciously.

"No. I couldn't. I don't deserve it." Yuuri was facing his plate once more and didn't see the look of sadness pass over Victor's features before they were rearranged into another of his signature grins.

"Well, I think I deserve some katsudon after winning Worlds and therefore I would very much like for you to make me some." Yuuri looked up sharply and saw the hopefulness in Victor's eyes before hesitantly agreeing. "I couldn't possibly eat your favourite meal without you though so I also request, as the World Champion, that you make yourself some too. Even if it is just a small portion." Yuuri realised that there was really no way to dissuade Victor and therefore agreed to make himself some as well.

"I am going to have to go out and get some ingredients but you can come with me. I mean, if you want to, I guess you went out this morning for the waffle stuff." Yuuri mumbled while gesturing unconsciously with his hands. Victor grabbed both of the waving arms at the wrists.

"I would love to come with you Yuuri." Victor said with a smirk and a wink to emphasise the innuendo. "Besides, if this meal is going to be as heavy as you say, we are going to need to work up an appetite." Yuuri blushed furiously and stood up suddenly and rushed off to his room after mumbling something to indicate his intention to get dressed.

As he was pulling his shirt over his head he heard a light knock on the door and froze but thankfully Victor didn't enter the room. "I think we should go the rink first and get some practice in first, that sound ok to you?" Yuuri stuttered out an affirmation before waiting to hear the shuffling of socked feet away from directly behind his door before continuing to change.

* * *

Victor and Yuuri spent a few hours at the rink for skating practice which involved Victor hashing out some more of his programme for the upcoming season and Yuuri practicing a few of the jumps he was less confident with, using Victor's guidance to help with his form. After a while, Victor had Yuuri shadow him while he skated some old routines as he had been impressed with the almost perfect copy he had been shown the day before. Once Victor decided they needed a break, he skated over to the rink edge and gestured for Yuuri to join him. However, he was met with a wave of the younger skater's hand as he continued to skate around the rink, occasionally launching into a jump. Victor was astounded by the young man's stamina and continued to watch Yuuri with a critical eye to try and find what was causing the falls that he was witnessing. The jumps did get Victor's mind wandering from the jumps themselves to a potential way to try to help Yuuri's confidence. While Yuuri was seemingly in his own world, working on his quads, Victor slinked away to have a chat with the rink receptionist.

By the time Victor got back to the rink side, Yuuri was leaning against the boards, bottle of water in hand, looking around hurriedly until their eyes met and Yuuri broke into a smile.

"I thought you'd left me here for a second there." Yuuri said quietly, still a little breathless from the exercise he had just finished.

"Never Yuuri. I was just having a word with the lady at the front desk about an idea I had to help with your confidence." Victor took Yuuri's hand, the one not holding the bottle, and dragged him over to the rink exit. "Put your shoes back on, we are going to head upstairs." Victor turned around to pack up the last of his things and to give Yuuri the time to take off his skates, but when he was done, he turned to see Yuuri sat on the bench and making no move to get his footwear changed and staring into space. Victor walked over to his companion and knelt at his feet, taking one of his boots in his hand to start working on the laces. While this seemed to shake Yuuri out of his own head, he still quivered slightly as he folded over to untie the other boot laces.

"What's on your mind Yuuri?" Victor asked softly. "Is it the same thing that was troubling you last night?" Yuuri didn't respond so Victor straightened slightly and leant his hands on Yuuri's knees. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right Yuuri? I'm here for you." Yuuri blushed slightly but nodded and took Victor's hands to pull them both to their feet.

"Upstairs you said, right? I don't think I have ever been up there so what's going on?" Victor just winked at him knowingly and led them by their joined hands up to the first floor.

Victor led Yuuri to the door he had been directed to and opened it to reveal a small gym room that would suit Victor's plan perfectly. Victor looked around with glee, dropping Yuuri's hand to bounce over to the store cupboard he was told about and opened it to find the crash mats he was looking for. Yuuri wandered over to help after seeing Victor struggle to lift the top mat down and they managed to cover the majority of the floor in the soft surface. Once all of the mats had been placed, Victor turned to Yuuri to explain his plan.

"So, while you were practicing your jumps on your own, I had a thought. It is your confidence that seems to always let you down in competitions so we need to find a way to make you believe in yourself." Yuuri nodded but still hadn't caught on to Victor's train of thought. "I think that there is no better way to build trust in yourself that to prove the trust that others have in you. So," Victor grabbed Yuuri's hands, tugged the younger man's body closer to his own, and places the trembling digits on his own waist, "I want you to practice some pair lifts with me." Yuuri tried to pull his hands away but Victor's grip remained firm.

"I- I don't think that's a good idea." Yuuri stuttered. "W-What if I drop you?" He added in a whisper.

"Well, that's what the crash mats are for and besides, that's the whole point. I have faith in you to be able to do this because you are strong enough to and I believe in you." Victor decided that a different approach might be needed. He let go of Yuuri's hands and moved back slightly, trying to reach the other end of the room without looking too suspicious. After making sure that Yuuri was still watching him, Victor turned on his heel and ran full out towards the other skater. At the last second, Victor jumped in the air and angled his body in a good position to be caught. Victor closed his eyes and braced himself for an impact with the floor but when he felt Yuuri's arms wrap around his back and under his knees he opened them again to see Yuuri's soft brown eyes looking down at him in awe.

Victor was safe in Yuuri's grip and couldn't be happier with this outright show of strength. He threw his arms in the air and wiggled in delight, however the sudden movement took Yuuri by surprise and in trying to maintain his grip on the man but ended up losing his balance and the pair toppled to the mats. Once again, Victor found himself lying on top of Yuuri making sure that he was alright.

"Oh god, are you ok? I probably shouldn't have moved so much." Victor said as he leant up to move his weight of Yuuri's body.

"Yeah that probably wasn't a good idea but I'm fine, I promise." Victor sighed in relief and stood up, offering his hand to help Yuuri to his feet."

"You know, we do seem to spend a lot of our time together lying on the floor…" Victor said with a raised eyebrow and cheeky expression. Yuuri just laughed and shook his head at the suggestive comment, a huge improvement from the stuttering mess he usually was in Victor's opinion. "You did it though, you caught me." Victor grabbed Yuuri in a hug and twirled him around slightly.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Yuuri hugged Victor back just as hard with a small smile. "Do you think we could go and do some roller-skating some time, as a way to change up practice a bit?" Victor hopped around excitedly.

"Yes! Definitely. It would be a good way to exercise and work on the same muscles as skating while being in a new somewhat challenging environment. That sounds like a great idea." Yuuri smiled widely and Victor swore he almost had a heart attack at the sight of his friend looking so happy and excited. "For now though, can we try a proper lift?"

"Sure ok, that sounds like a plan."

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 **We have now caught up with what I have posted on AO3 so far so no more sneaky peeks I'm afraid. I will be updating as I continue writing so there will be a lot more time between chapters from here on in.**

 **BN x**


	9. Chapter 8: Relax

**So I rewarded myself for writing 2 essays by doing even more writing... Huge t** **hank yous to Merlenyn for your suggestion to include the chapter number in the title so we can all stop getting confused by the damned prologue!  
Chapter title by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (imagine Yuuri and Victor skating to this at the start of the chapter!)  
Enjoy!**

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Two weeks passed in a blur to find Yuuri and Victor in somewhat of a routine that suited them both down to the ground. After a joint morning run to the rink, grabbing breakfast on the way, the two skaters share a table in the small kitchenette off one side of the rink before stretching out and heading to either the rink itself or the spare room upstairs. The evenings were spent with time in the nearby gym or in a roller rink the pair had found a few streets away from the rink. In the time they had spent together, Yuuri had become more used to Victor's presence to the point where he no longer flinched every time their hands touched or blushed whenever eye contact was made. Victor took advantage of this mercilessly and took every opportunity to be close to Yuuri in whatever way he can, from the lightest touches of fingers skimming an arm to giant glomping hugs whenever he needed a cuddle.

One particular evening found Victor and Yuuri walking back to the flat, arm in arm, wearing matching legwarmers. The two were returning from 80's night at the rink which they had decided to attend for fun more than practice or stamina training. Victor had surprised Yuuri with the legwarmers just before they had left for the rink however it took a fair amount of time to actually convince the younger man to put them on. Yuuri felt more comfortable when he saw the majority of the other skaters wearing equally neon accessories when they arrived at the rink. The night had been a huge success, with the two ice skaters spending the evening twirling around one another while performing some of their favourite step sequences from previous routines to wow the audience of other roller-skaters.

Yuuri held the door to their building's lobby open for Victor who breezed past him in a swirl of silver and neon pink. Victor had barely taken two steps into the lobby when he was hit by a heavy weight at top speed and knocked to the floor. Wet stripes appeared on Victor's face as he tried to recover and he heard Yuuri suck in a harsh breath. Victor opens his eyes to be met by big dark irises and a mop of light, chocolate brown curls. Victor laughed with joy as he greeted his beloved companion Makkachin. After being sure to pay a considerable amount of attention to his dog after being away for a few weeks, Victor looked up to introduce his best friend to his current housemate. However, Yuuri had slipped away into the depths of the building and had left Victor floundering on the floor, alone with Makkachin sitting firmly on his chest.

"Oi, old man." Not entirely alone it would seem. "Plane food is shit and I'm hungry, feed me." A sharp voice was heard coming from the boy slumped just out of site in one of the large sitting chairs in the corner of the lobby. Victor pushed Makkachin away but rested a hand on top of his head to maintain contact.

"Yuri? What are you doing here?" Victor made his way over to the blond and sat in the seat opposite, despite the young skater's attempts to not engage eye contact.

"Well, your mutt hardly booked itself on a plane and got here by itself." Yuri replied with a sarcastic drawl. Victor could see Yuri glance in his direction before doing a double take. "What the actual fuck are you wearing?" Victor glanced down at his own body and saw the pink accessories standing out against his sweatpants.

"Oh, Yuuri and I went to an 80s event at the roller rink and we dressed up! Speaking of, did you see where he went?" Victor swung his head from side to side, searching every corner of the room for a sign of his new friend.

"You mean your new toy? He took off upstairs when the mutt jumped you." Victor returned his gaze to Yuri's sharply.

"First of all, Yuuri is my friend, _not_ my toy. Secondly, Makkachin is a dog and not a mutt. I will have you know he is a pedigree poodle. Actually, Yuuri said that his dog looked a lot like Makka so he's probably a bit overwhelmed. Thirdly, having two Yuri's here is going to be confusing and therefore I shall have to come up with a suitable nickname." Victor touched a finger to his chin while he pondered potential names.

"You should just call him Piggy seeing as he is morbidly overweight." Yuri said with a snicker.

"Oh no Yuri, the nickname is for you, seeing as Yuuri has had the name the longest." Victor elaborated with a smirk.

"WHAT? No. You've known me longer so Piggy should get the stupid nickname!" Yuri shouted. Victor's eyes lit up playfully as he thought of the perfect nickname for the little Yuri.

"Got it. Yurio. You shall henceforth be known as Yurio." Victor stood up and ignored all of the newly dubbed Yurio's protests and began to walk towards the staircase. "If you want food you are going to have to come upstairs." Victor called Makkachin over with a whistle and began the journey up the flights of stairs to Yuuri's floor without looking back to see if he was being shadowed. Once Victor heard a set of heavy footsteps behind him, he continued his conversation with his rink mate.

"Does Yakov know you're here by the way?" Victor stopped outside Yuuri's door and fumbled in his overflowing pocket for his copy of the front door key that had been cut for him the week before. Yurio slouched against the wall next to the door and tutted at Victor's lack of organisation.

"He couldn't stand the mutt's whining any longer and sent me over with it to tell you that he has given up on you completely and doesn't want to hear from you until you have a time for him to pick you up from the airport back home. I have a flight back this evening though because apparently Yakov wants me dead." Victor had managed to detangle his key from a set of headphones and unlocked the door. Yurio sulked into the apartment and went straight to the kitchen on the hunt for a snack. Makkachin on the other hand, bounced into the room and started snuffling around, seemingly tracking a scent that he had picked up on. Victor dropped his coat of on the rack by the door and wandered after Yurio.

"How did you know where the apartment was?" Victor opened a cupboard that was just out of Yurio's reach and handed him an energy bar.

"I had to message Piggy's roommate and ask him. I hope you're proud of yourself for making me stoop to the level of talking to the enemy." Yuuri sniffed and plodded out into the main area to flop onto the sofa. Victor just laughed and followed him into the room to see his dog snuffling around Yuuri's bedroom door. Victor had been sure that Makka was tracking the hamsters but it seemed that the pooch was more interested in the other man in the flat.

"Makkachin, stop. It's probably best to leave Yuuri alone for a little bit." Makkachin wandered over and followed him over to the sofa where they both sat down. The dog reached over and put a paw on Yurio's leg, recognising the name. Yurio spluttered in protest but made no attempt to move the paw. "No Makka." Victor laughed, "Yurio." Victor over pronounced the name while pointing to the young blond. He then pointed at the closed door. "Yuuri." Makkachin followed his finger and woofed softly before laying his head down on Yurio's leg.

"What the hell?" Yurio looked down into the dog's eyes and sighed in resignation as he allowed his hand to fall into the mess of curls. "Fine. But don't get used to this, ok?!"

"You did bring Makka's food and toys over for him, right Yurio?" Victor asked, his pet owner instincts kicked in as he realised that Makkachin was probably hungry from the long flight. Yurio turned to look at him with a blank expression. "Oh for crying out loud." Victor stood from the sofa abruptly and Yurio followed suit, jostling Makkachin which caused the dog to fall from the sofa.

"Come on! Yakov practically pushed me onto the plane with the dog and told me not to come back with it. I didn't even get to pack anything for myself!" Victor looked back in understanding and wandered over to Yuuri's closed door without another word and knocked lightly.

"Yuuri? It's me. Yurio forgot to bring any of Makkachin's things so I'm going to go out and get some stuff for him. Is that ok?" Victor spoke softly so as not to freak the young man out. A few seconds passed without any kind of noise from Yuuri so Victor spoke again. "Yuuri? You don't have to talk to me but could you knock on your desk or the door or something so I know you're still alive?" Victor waited again and heard two hesitant knocks sound on the door. Victor leant his forehead on the door and imagined he could feel the heat of Yuuri's own head from the other side, as if his position had been mirrored. "Can you knock twice if it's ok for me to go out with Yurio to grab a few things?" Another pair of knocks were heard and Victor sighed softly. "Ok, thank you. I will leave you alone now." Victor withdrew from the door slowly and trailed a hand over the grains of the wood.

Yurio had returned to the sofa and was slumped over one arm with his head upside down, facing outwards and hair falling away from his face in a curtain. Victor stood in front of him with his arms crossed.

"What do you want?" Yurio muttered, his face turning slightly red due to the build-up of blood in his head. Victor shook his head slightly and lifted Yurio into a sitting position by his shoulders.

"You and I are going out to get some stuff for Makka seeing as you were the one who left them behind." Yurio huffed but got up from the sofa and followed Victor towards the front door. Victor slipped his jacket back on and grabbed his keys off of the side table. He debated taking Makkachin on the journey with him but he wasn't sure if the American stores would allow the bouncy dog into the building and Victor sure as hell wasn't going to leave him outside with Yurio. Victor turned around and looked his dog in the eyes. "Ok Makkachin. You are going to stay here and look after Yuuri alright? Stay." Makkachin sat down obediently and wagged his tail in farewell as the two skaters left the building.

* * *

Victor and Yurio had spent around an hour out of the apartment. Victor manage to navigate them both to a pet store that he had seen on his many walks to the rink with Yuuri. After many rotations around the aisles, Victor had filled Yurio's arms with a number of chew toys and treats as well as day to day food for the overgrown puppy. The two Russians took Victor's purchases to the counter and bought everything he had chosen for Makkachin, barely sparing a glance at the total price. Yurio very quickly realised that the only reason he had been brought along was to be the bag carrier as a mountain of shopping bags were shoved in his direction while Victor had a meaningless, small talk conversation with the cashier.

Victor led the young blond back to the apartment, while taking the occasional break for Yurio to adjust his grip on the painful plastic. The pair made it back in one piece, despite all of the younger's threats of mutilation, and Victor unlocked the door to let them both inside. When Victor didn't instantly hear the skitter of paws running to the door to greet him, he was confused. Makkachin couldn't have gotten out and the apartment was hardly big enough for a dog the size of Makka to go missing in. Yurio dumped the bags hastily on the floor before going to resume his previous position on the sofa while Victor popped his head around the door to the kitchen to try and locate his missing dog.

Luckily, Makkachin wasn't hiding in the kitchen, nor did it look like he had been in there to try to steal any foods he shouldn't be eating, but that still left the question of where he had gotten to. Victor's first stop on his Makkachin hunt was Phichit's room. Makkachin was an explorative animal and Victor didn't put it past his dog to have found a way into the room. He opened the door slowly, praying that he didn't find Makkachin in there, surrounded by little hamster bodies. Or worse, _not_ surrounded by little hamster bodies. Thankfully, the room was dog free and the hamster cage was securely closed with all three fluffballs present and accounted for. Victor wiggled his fingers at the tiny eyes quickly before dropping a small handful of food in their bowl to tide them over for the day. As Victor turned to shut the door to Phichit's room behind him, he noticed that the door opposite to Yuuri's room was ever so slightly ajar. Victor tiptoed across the narrow hallway and put a hand against the door handle. After a brief moment of contemplation, Victor pushed on the door lightly to peer into the room.

Victor's eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light in Yuuri's room and cast his gaze over the room, an exact mirror of the one his was borrowing, minus the giant golden cage that took up the space next to Phichit's wardrobe. He caught sight of Yuuri, curled up on his bed, glasses tucked precariously next to his pillow but Victor could see that Yuuri's eyes were open. The younger skater's eyes never met with Victor's own, his attention solely on the object that was wrapped protectively around his legs. Victor watched and felt his heart squeeze slightly at the sight of his dog and Yuuri snuggled up in bed together.

Makkachin was tucked under and around Yuuri, clearly taking Victor's order to look after him to heart. The dog's head was resting on Yuuri's thigh, and looked up at Victor with a blissed-out expression at the feeling of the skater's fingers carding through the curls. Victor could see Makkachin register his presence and start to wag his tail but with a quick 'stay' motion with his hand, Victor told Makka to remain with Yuuri and slipped out of the doorway.

Victor returned to the main area of the flat and flopped onto the sofa besides the twitchy Yurio who jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion.

"What time are you going to have to leave to get back for your flight?" Victor spoke in a low voice and watched Yurio curiously. Yurio pulled his phone out of the leopard print faux-leather jacket pocket and hit the home button to illuminate the screen.

"Fuck. I probably have to go in like ten minutes." Yurio looked disinterested, despite the fact he was running late. Victor grabbed Yurio's phone out of his hand and pulled up the internet to order him a taxi. Apparently, a benefit of being in America was that there is always a cab around the next corner. In no time at all. Victor was shoving Yurio out of the front door, with another energy bar in his hand, and waved him on his way back to Russia.

Victor spun around and wandered back to Yuuri's door subconsciously and made his way into the room. This time, both Makkachin's and Yuuri's heads turned towards Victor and the sight had Victor's feet moving on their own accord towards the bed. Victor perched lightly on the edge of the bed but doesn't say anything, giving Yuuri the time he needs to feel comfortable enough to talk. Makkachin shifted slightly so that his front legs were resting on Victor's leg while his body and hind legs were still entangled with Yuuri. The latter skater reached over to stroke Makka's fur for comfort.

"He really does look just like Vichhan." Yuuri spoke with a quiet tone. "I'm sorry for dognapping him while you were out by the way, he was scratching at the door and I couldn't bear to leave him alone." Victor reached over and took Yuuri's hand that was resting on the dog's back.

"I don't blame you to be honest, he is undeniably gorgeous and a cuddle monster." Victor winked at Yuuri and pulled the other man closer into a hug. "To be honest, I'm a partial to a cuddle or two as well." Yuuri laughed and curled up closer to Victor and Makkachin.

"Well, they do say that dogs are similar to their owners." Yuuri said with a soft chuckle which sent shivers down Victor's spine. Few words were vocalised between the two, but the comfortable and reassuring atmosphere spoke more in volume that any articulated sentences ever could.

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 **I've got some real good chapters coming up for you in the future so I hope you are super excited! Insert generic plea for reviews/favourites/follows here ;)**  
 **BN x**


	10. Chapter 9: On Love: Eros

So hi.

I am aware that I am a dreadful person for not updating this sooner so I hope you don't hate me too much for the 3 week wait... Uni work got in the way and then life got in the way and then ugh. Anyways, I hope that this chapter makes up for the long wait.

Chapter title from Yuri! on Ice

Enjoy!

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The sight of Yuuri and Victor gliding over the ice in the Detroit rink had become a regular occurrence. The pair spent more time training than anything else. While they mostly spent their time at the rink together, Victor often sent Yuuri upstairs to the small dance gym to work on his flexibility with some ballet while the elder skater worked on a secret project. On one of these days, Yuuri tripped down the stairs after a few hours of intensive practice to see Victor leaning against the rink barrier with a smile on his face. When Victor's eyes met with Yuuri's they lit up and the smile spread further across his cheeks.

"Yuuuuuuuuri!" Victor shouted across the open space as he waved to the younger man. "Let me show you something!" Victor picked up his phone and waved it in Yuuri's direction before leaving it on the rink edge and skating to the centre and taking up a starting position with his head bowed and arms by his side.

Yuuri noted a small waving motion from Victor and took it to mean he was to play the music that had been set up on the phone in front of him. The title of the song was written in Cyrillic lettering that Yuuri could not read so he had no idea what he was about to witness.

Victor cocked his hip out to one side and began to wave his arms around his head in a sensual manner. There was a brief pause in the seductive guitar strumming which Victor coincided with looking directly at Yuuri and sending him a seductive smirk. Yuuri could feel his face flush instantly but couldn't bring himself to look away for even a second. Time seemed to slow as Yuuri watched Victor skate alluring patterns across the ice, paired with multiple flawless jumps and spins. Yuuri could see the story Victor was creating with his body as clear as the ice he was skating on. The young playboy enchanting the women he desired in a twisting game of cat and mouse before discarding her to move onto his next victim.

The younger skater drew in a sharp breath as the music reached a crescendo and Victor ended the routine stood in the centre of the rink with his arms wrapped around his body. The look of seduction and concentration on Victor's face dropped away suddenly and was replaced with his usual easy going smile.

"So Yuuri," Victor said as he made his way over to the rink edge where Yuuri was standing, "what did you think?" Yuuri had to take a few seconds of staring at the ice rather than Victor, in order to compose himself and remind his lungs that breathing was probably a good idea. By the time Yuuri felt able to look at Victor again, the older man's smile had morphed into a slight smirk but the kind spark never faded from his eyes. Yuuri drew in a deep breath and prayed that he would be able to speak without making a fool of himself.

"U-um, it was great. Really good Victor." Curse that small stutter. "What are you planning on using it for?" Yuuri was understandably curious as Victor had already shown him the routines he was planning on skating for the upcoming season.

"Oh, this one isn't for me." Yuuri looked at Victor, brow furrowed with confusion. If Victor didn't make that routine for himself, who the hell was it for? "I was thinking that maybe _you_ could use it for you short program this season." Yuuri's jaw hit the floor.

"W-w-what? I couldn't. There's no way I would be able to-" Victor cut of Yuuri's panicked muttering by placing one of his hands on Yuuri's, which were clutching onto the rink barrier in an attempt to help Yuuri remain upright.

"Yuuri, stop being so hard on yourself. With a bit of help on the jumps, you could pull this off easily." Victor tried to catch and hold Yuuri's eyes but they kept disappearing with a shake of the younger man's head. "What's stopping you from believing that you can do this? I believe in you, so why can't _you_ believe in you?" Victor was looking at Yuuri with a mix of concern and encouragement and Yuuri found himself spilling his thoughts before he could stop to think about it.

"You're just so perfect, I can't live up to that. You made that routine so effortlessly sexy and there is no way I could replicate those emotions or movements." Yuuri's voice dwindled to a halt as he become more embarrassed by what he was saying. Victor lightly placed a finger under Yuuri's chin to turn the younger's head towards his own.

"I can teach you. I can see it inside of you Yuuri, all we need to do is encourage it out and show it to the world." Yuuri's eyes remained locked on Victor's as though there was some kind of force preventing his from looking away as Victor began to lean closer. "All you have to do is say yes." Yuuri could feel Victor's breath dancing across his own lips and chin but couldn't seem to move from the soft grip on his chin.

"Yes." The word slipped out of Yuuri's lips in a whisper before he could register what it meant. The light in Victor's eyes could have lit up the entire building but he seemed to have the sense to keep his excitement reigned in to match Yuuri's unsure mood. Yuuri closed his eyes in surprise to finally escape from the hypnotic gaze that he had been enraptured by. He was jolted out of his internal panic at the feeling of pressure bearing down against his forehead. Yuuri allowed his eyes to fly open to find himself nose to nose with his childhood idol as Victor had leant his head down again Yuuri's to bring them closer together. Yuuri could see the combination of his own curling black hair entwining with the long silver strands of Victor's own fringe out of the corner of his eye. Victor let out a deep breath as a contented sigh as he wrapped his free hand around Yuuri's back, holding them together in a light embrace.

"Amazing."

* * *

Yuuri managed to pick up the choreography of his brand new short programme remarkably quickly. Victor was, needless to say, very impressed with his student's progress but while the choreography was mostly nailed within a few days, the emotion was proving harder for Yuuri to grasp, even after a few weeks. After a particularly gruelling practice session in the ice rink, Victor noticed Yuuri retired to his room with barely a word to either Victor himself or Yuuri's shadow, Makkachin. Yuuri had even closed his door on Makka, meaning the dog couldn't see his new friend and ended up wandering around aimlessly, much like Victor was doing. Victor meandered over to Yuuri's door after around half an hour, to the sight of his dog lying beside the door with his nose pressed up against the gap by the floor to reassure himself that Yuuri was still there. Victor paused to stoop down and run his fingers over the curls of Makkachin's head, before standing again and taking a deep breath before knocking on Yuuri's door.

"Hey Yuuri, do you want to go out to the roller rink with me this evening?" There was no response for a while but Victor could hear the other man shuffling around in his room. "I asked the owners last time and they said that they don't mind if we took Makka with us, they would look after him while we skated." Victor heard the shuffling sound halt on the other side of the door which was paired with an almost inaudible metallic click as Yuuri rested his hand on the door handle. Victor took half a step backwards as Yuuri opened the door. Makkachin was up in an instant and ran past Yuuri's legs into the room and jumped onto the bed while wagging his tail relentlessly. Yuuri rolled his eyes at the poodle with a small smile before turning back to Victor gingerly.

"Roller-skating sounds fun. And taking Makkachin with us would be nice too." Yuuri said in a small voice. Victor smiled widely and without thinking, swiped a fingertip across Yuuri's forehead to push the black fringe away from the younger's eyes. Victor paused in surprise at his action with a hand still hovering by Yuuri's ear before Yuuri's face lit with a blush and he pushed past Victor and headed towards the kitchen. "Maybe I could cook us something for dinner before we go?" All of a sudden, Victor recovered from his statuesque pose to bounce into the main body of the flat.

"Yeah ok, I think I have most of the ingredients for something relatively quick." Victor smiled happily and continued to make his way into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Victor asked as he leant against the doorframe to watch Yuuri as he began to gather the ingredients and equipment he needed.

"No, no it's fine. I think I would kinda like the time by myself to be honest." Victor nodded and pushed himself up and away from the doorframe.

"Sure, no worries. Do you mind if I go get Makka from your room while you cook?" After seeing Yuuri's affirming nod, Victor left the kitchen and went back over to Yuuri's room.

After a quick meal courtesy of Yuuri, the pair were throwing light jackets on over their clothing and clipped Makkachin's lead onto his collar, much to the dog's excitement. The walk to the roller-rink was kept relatively quiet as Yuuri still mostly remained stuck in his own head after the troubles he had during the earlier practice. Victor tried to lighten the mood at various points with further compliments to Yuuri's cooking as well as occasionally allowing Makkachin to run to Yuuri's side and shove him ever so slightly closer towards Victor, causing the two men's arms to brush. Victor made a mental note to give Makka a treat or two that evening as a thank you for being the best wingman. Wingdog? Whatever Makkachin was, there was an extra helping of food in his future.

The rink was relatively quiet when Victor and Yuuri arrived which was not unexpected for a midweek evening. The owners of the rink were thrilled to see the poodle bounding into the building just before the two men and gladly took him to one side to keep an eye on him. Victor led Yuuri over to the counter to rent their skates before taking him over to the rink itself. Their warm-up time was brief after the time spent on the ice that morning but soon they were skating around in lazy circles trying to reduce some of the stress that had built up over the past few frustrating days.

Victor watched Yuuri closely through the first hour or so of skating before he decided to bring up the heavier topic of the day after falling into step beside him.

"Yuuri. How can I help you find your Eros?" Yuuri began to skate in the opposite direction as quickly as he could. Victor didn't hesitate to follow him. Victor, having a slightly longer stride, managed to catch up to Yuuri fairly easily and wrapped his arms around Yuuri's waist to prevent him from escaping again. Yuuri twisted in the grip and ended up facing Victor with a flush on his face and heart racing beneath his ribcage. Victor caught Yuuri's eyes and was almost floored at the intensity he saw there. He didn't allow his grasp to waver however. "M-maybe we should skate it together, as a pair skate instead of side by side to try and help you with the characterisation of the affair?" Victor didn't think he had ever stuttered in that way before and was just hoping that Yuuri hadn't noticed it. Yuuri's eyes widened slightly but nodded shallowly and Victor wasted no time in dragging Yuuri into the centre of the rink by the waist. The pair decided that attempting the jumps would be foolish in the wooden rink so the plan was to focus on the footwork but mostly on the feel of the routine with Victor skating around Yuuri, acting out the part of the woman Yuuri was trying to seduce.

The rink had been cleared out at that point as it had gotten rather late, however this allowed for Yuuri to go all out without the distraction of an audience watching him. Victor could see Yuuri steel himself in the centre of the rink as he let go and moved to one side, ready to swoop in and join the routine. Yuuri didn't need the music as the choreography was ingrained into his brain to the point where he could perform it in his sleep. Victor watched as Yuuri swung his arms around before looking him straight in the eye and winking with a small smirk. Victor practically melted on the spot.

Victor barely remembered that he was supposed to be skating along with Yuuri to help him understand the character better and joined in by flowing around Yuuri in a mixture of 'come hither' and 'I'm not interested' motions. Yuuri seemed to take all of Victor's signals and worked his performance to show the story of attempting to seduce the temptress. By the end of the routine, Victor had been cast aside to one side of the rink and Yuuri ended up alone again at the centre of attention as he moved onto a new target of his affection. While the character still wasn't quite there it was a sudden and great improvement for Yuuri that left Victor reeling. Seeing the mask of the playboy fall away as Yuuri hunched his shoulders and looked to Victor nervously, had Victor practically tripping over his own feet in awe. Once Victor had regained his senses, he went over to wrap Yuuri in a hug and praise his efforts and improvements.

"Yuuri, that was so great! I felt thoroughly seduced." Yuuri's face finally succumbed to the blush that had probably been brewing during the entire performance. "It's quite late though so should we call it a day?"

"Yeah, sure." Yuuri agreed readily, feeling the strain of a long day of exercise beginning to weaken his legs. "That felt pretty good though. Thank you." Victor grabbed Yuuri's hand to pull him off the rink and over to the main desk to pick up their shoes and Makkachin, who had fallen asleep on one of the couches at the edge of the room.

"Anything for you my Yuuri." Victor felt his hand being squeezed lightly before it was released to focus on the task of changing shoes.

This time, on the walk back to the apartment, Victor and Yuuri were side by side with shoulders brushing for most of the trek. Little time was spent together once they were back at the flat, with Yuuri heading straight for the shower and Victor retiring to his room, not without forgetting to grab a dog biscuit and toss it to Makkachin as his reward for being the best dog any hopeless romantic could ask for.

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Well there you go (finally). Feel free to tell me your thoughts in a comment or drop me a favourite/follow to let me know you haven't given up on this story just yet! (I'm not above begging, can you tell?) The next chapter should be a good one so I hope you will all stick around for that one.

BN x


	11. Chapter 10: What is This Feeling?

**Ok, so it's been over a month and I am really sorry but it's exam season right now so this is quite possibly the last update you are going to get until June when I am free once again. I hope this chapter is going to make up for the long wait!**  
 **Song title from Wicked - Just the title I promise! They aren't going to start hating one another. Not right now anyway... ;)**

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Victor's time in America was coming to an end. Phichit was due back in little under two week so Victor and Yuuri were making the most of their time together. Victor had made it his mission to get Yuuri skating Eros to an almost perfect standard before he left and Yuuri was certainly not letting him down. Victor could barely leave the rink without undoing a few buttons on his shirt to try to cool down his heightened body temperature. The jumps were still mostly hit and miss but Yuuri had managed a couple of run-throughs without touching down once during a landing. The shaky legs was something Victor was confident Celestino would be able to iron out before the competitive season started.

Victor woke early one morning to the sound of the hamster wheel squeaking. After sitting up and nudging Makkachin lightly, Victor stumbled over to see Bronza running around as fast as her tiny legs would take her while Serebryanyy and Zoloto were hovering by the food bowl. Victor chuckled lightly as he scooped some dried food into the bowl and the two hamsters practically fell in after it with Bronza not far behind. When Victor had turned away from the cage, his room was empty as Makkachin had left the bed and padded out of the door which was always left open for him. Victor made to follow the dog but wasn't surprised when he couldn't find the brow curls in the main body of the apartment. After only a few days of being there, Makkachin had taken to waking up with Victor and then demanding to be let into Yuuri's room for some cuddles with his new best friend. It had quickly reached the point where Yuuri began leaving his door slightly open overnight too so that Makka could nose his way in whenever he felt like it.

Victor peaked into the room just as Makka plonked himself down next to the mound the was Yuuri's body and a stray arm reached over to pull the heat source closer to the slumbering man. It wouldn't take long for Yuuri to wake up since Makkachin was known to fidget until he was satisfied with the amount of attention he had been given. Victor wandered into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker and sat at the small table while waiting for the younger skater to emerge from his room. In the brief moment of solitude, Victor considered the lack of time he had left in America and decided that he had not seen anywhere near as much of Yuuri's current home city as he deemed acceptable. A plan began to emerge as he heard the tell-tale sound of a door being opened and then the tapping noise of claws hitting the wooden floorboards.

"Hey Victor." Yuuri's voice, still rough from sleep, followed not too long after Makkachin's nose brushed up against Victor's knee. Victor lifted his eyes away from the adoring dog and over to his housemate. Yuuri was a mess of black bedhead curls and soft skin marred with red lines where he must have slept on a crease of his pillowcase.

"Morning Yuuri." Victor replied. Yuuri poured himself a coffee and slumped into his seat opposite from the older skater. "Hey, I was thinking, maybe we could do something a little different today?" Yuuri looked up with a confused expression. "I thought maybe we could go sightseeing? I have to go back to Russia soon and I want to see more of Detroit first."

"Oh, ok then. We were due a break from practice soon anyway I think." Victor was almost shocked at how quickly Yuuri agreed but he knew they were both very much aware of how little time they had left together for the time being.

After the two men had prepared and ate breakfast, they got themselves dressed and ready for a day out on the town. Makkachin was clipped onto his lead and they set out together, with Yuuri leading the way. The first stop on their journey was a large park about a half an hour walk in the opposite direction to the skate rink. Makka was let of his lead but made sure not to stray too far from Victor's eyeline as he had been trained to do for his own safety. Victor was thrilled to see such a large expanse of greenery after being surrounded by the cold cityscape and high-rise buildings for so long. His phone was out in an instant and he ran off taking pictures of seemingly every blade of grass before returning to Yuuri's side demanding selfies for his social media accounts. Yuuri reluctantly played along after giving in to the puppy dog eyes from, not just the actual dog, but from Victor as well. Victor positioned Yuuri in front of an aesthetically pleasing background and then leaned in close so their faces were squished together. After seeing the soft pink blush creep onto Yuuri's cheeks, Victor couldn't resist turning his head to press his lips lightly against the colouration of skin just as he clicked his phone to take another picture. Yuuri's face was bright with shock as he pulled away slightly, flushing even further.

Makkachin took that moment to bound over to the pair and paw at Victor restlessly. They had massively lost track of time and Victor realised that the pup was probably asking for some food. After pointing out the time to Yuuri, Victor felt a hand make its way into his grasp before Yuuri was pulling on Victor's arm gently to lead him to a café he knew of nearby that served food of dogs as well as their owners.

Victor refused to let go of Yuuri's hand throughout the whole walk over to the café, while Yuuri pointed out various notable buildings, and he also chose a seat next to the younger skater so he didn't have to relinquish the contact they had when they sat to eat. In fact, Victor chose not to let go of Yuuri's hand for the entire time they were sat in the café having lunch. They thankfully both chose foods that could be eaten one handed so Victor really had no need to let go of Yuuri ever again, in his opinion. Victor felt his cheeks flush slightly at the thought of keeping a hold of Yuuri and never letting him leave his side.

The older man realised he hadn't felt this attached to another human being in quite some time and Victor began to feel slightly overwhelmed at the sudden influx of emotions, that he had sequestered in the far corners of his brain, which threatened to distract him from his date. _Lunch_ , not date. Just lunch. With Yuuri. Sweet, adorable, completely unaware of his sex-appeal Yuuri. Victor needed to get off this train of thought before he inevitably said something he knew Yuuri wasn't ready to hear yet and mess everything up between the two of them.

Yuuri seemed oblivious however and remained focused on trying to eat his sandwich with one of his hand occupied by the Russian. Eventually, the pair finished their late lunch and Victor paid the check before Yuuri had the chance to intervene. Victor then took the lead as he dragged Yuuri down the nearby streets in order to do some window shopping.

* * *

After spending a long while aimlessly meandering around the streets of Detroit, Victor paused in front a posh looking formalwear shop. Despite Yuuri's complaints, Victor loosely looped Makkachin's lead through a wrought-iron fence outside and dragged Yuuri into the shop. After a few minutes of sifting through a mountain of soft silk, Victor lifted up two strips of material and held them up for Yuuri's opinion.

"Well, uh. I guess the red one is nice but maybe the checked one would go with more suits?" Victor continued to eye the fabric critically while occasionally flicking his gaze to Yuuri briefly. "What colour suit would you want to wear it with?" This caught Victor's attention.

"Oh no Yuuri, this is for you." Yuuri couldn't hide his surprised expression.

"Wait, what? But I don't need a-"

"Oh yes you do." Yuuri continued to look perplexed. "I found the sorry excuse of cloth you call a tie in the back of your wardrobe one day and this one will suit you so much better don't you think?" Victor held up the red tie, which upon closer examination, Yuuri could see was actually a complex pattern of tiny red birds that filled out the body of the tie to appear as a block colour from a distance. Victor pulled away before Yuuri had a chance to react and strode purposefully to the cashier. As the tie was being rung up, Yuuri tugged on Victor's sleeve to get his attention.

"Wait, why were you looking in the back of my wardrobe anyway?" Victor looked away guiltily and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, I was bored one day when you were cooking so I went exploring?" Victor looked back to Yuuri to meet wide brown eyes staring at him. Victor was worried he had overstepped when Yuuri's eyes lit with mirth as he started laughing.

"I honestly don't know why I expected anything less." Yuuri managed to say, in-between huffs of laughter. Victor felt a matching grin spread across his own face as he felt his heart tighten that little bit more. He took the bag containing the new tie from the cashier and hooked his arm around Yuuri's to lead him out of the shop. There were tears of laughter streaming down both of their faces by the time they reached Makkachin outside on the street.

They slowly made their way back to Yuuri's apartment while taking what Yuuri's called the 'scenic route' which involved a lot of drab grey buildings that were apparently the highlights of the city. Victor couldn't say he minded the dreary city too much and it gave him the opportunity to stare at something much more attractive in the form of his companion.

Once the two skaters had returned to the flat, Victor immediately fell onto the sofa and dragged Yuuri down next to him while Makkachin plodded into Victor's bedroom for a nap. The two men flicked through the television channels before they landed on a film that seemed decent enough to hold their attention for the time being. Victor was more than aware of the lack of space between their bodies and leant slightly further into Yuuri's side.

Victor looked up a short while later to find Yuuri not paying any attention to the film, but instead scrolling the screen of his phone. Victor propped himself up slightly and leant his head on Yuuri's shoulder.

"Whatcha looking at?" Yuuri let out a small laugh before leaning his head on top of Victor's and moving his phone so they could both see the screen.

"I was looking through all the pictures you put up today." Yuuri let out a soft sigh and Victor twisted his head slightly to look at him and encourage the younger to speak his mind. "I- Well, I was wondering what you did with the picture you took in the park where you, you know, kissed my cheek." The last words were said in a rush and barely above a whisper so Victor had to strain to hear them.

"Oh, I actually kind of wanted to keep that one for just us." Victor fumbled around slightly until his fingers brushed against his phone so he could bring it up in front of him. "I actually set it as my home screen." Yuuri turned his head suddenly to see himself staring back with wide eyes and Victor's lips came into contact with his skin. "I could send it to you if you want?" Yuuri nodded quickly and leant back slightly to give Victor space to free up his arm and hit the various buttons on his phone to share the image. Victor looked up after making sure the picture had been sent successfully and came face to face with Yuuri. Both men froze as their eyes locked and collectively realised just how close they actually were. Victor watched as Yuuri's gaze flicked to his lips before looking away guiltily.

The pair were too wrapped up in their own world to hear the clack of nails on wooden flooring to signify Makkachin's approach. Seeing his owner and new favourite person curled up together made Makka believe it was the perfect time for a cuddle party and wanted to know why he hadn't been invited earlier. To make his presence know, the dog leaped up onto the sofa and immediately crashed into Victor's back, propelling him forward. Victor's eyes flew open wider than he thought possible as his dog pushed him straight into Yuuri's unsuspecting personal space. Before Yuuri could move back, Victor's lips were on top of his own. Almost instantly, the pair sprung backwards as much as they could to collectively try to regain their senses. Victor pushed Makkachin away to give himself some more room before turning back to see Yuuri still staring at him but with his fingertips brushing over his lips in awe.

"I'm so sorry Yuuri! I couldn't stop, Makka was just-, I couldn't-, I mean, it's not that I didn't like it but-." Victor's frantic apologies were cut off by the returning pressure of Yuuri's lips. Victor froze for half a second before leaning into the kiss and wrapping his arms around Yuuri's neck to hold him close. The film was forgotten as the two skaters were lost in their own emotions as their unspoken feelings were communicated through the gentle slide of their lips and soft caresses of their fingertips.

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 **I really hope this chapter is ok because I honestly wrote it in about 2 hours and it's midnight now so... Let me know if you spot and mistakes that my sleep deprived brain didn't!**  
 **Also hit me up on tumblr if you want.**  
 **BN x**


	12. Chapter 11: Death of a Batchelor

**Uhhh...Surprise?**

 **So I have finally written a new chapter for you after my completely unintentional hiatus. Sorry about the wait but I hope you are still here to enjoy it!**

 **Chapter title: Death of a Batchelor - Panic! At The Disco**

* * *

The atmosphere of the ice rink had become a completely different experience after that first night when Makkachin reprised his role as best dog ever. Victor almost regretted giving Yuuri the Eros routine. Almost. The younger skater had definitely gained in confidence and was performing the routine with so much sensuality that Victor didn't ever want anyone else, let alone the whole skating world, to see his Yuuri like that. Although the benefits of seeing Yuuri perform that way multiple times a day outweighed the downfalls by far. The routine had practically been perfected, with Yuuri managing to land most of the jumps every time with only a few little wobbles here and there that would be ironed out with just a bit more practice. The only jump that was still causing him grief was his nemesis, the quad Salchow, which he was still landing poorly and often had to put a hand down to steady himself. The pair of skaters had been working furiously as Phichit was due to be returning the following day and Victor would therefore no longer have a place to stay and had promised Yakov that he would return to Russia to begin his own training.

Yuuri could not get the overwhelming thought of Victor having to leave out of his head as he skated his routine for the last time that evening, before they were due to leave. In response to the toxic thoughts running rampant, he threw his all into the routine to thoroughly seduce Victor, in the futile hope of convincing him to stay. He barely even noticed that he was standing in the centre of the rink, his arms wrapped around his body, as he was caught up in his own fantasy. The sound of Victor's triumphant shouts brought him back to reality.

"Yuuri, you did it!" Victor was looking positively gleeful as Yuuri made his way towards the rink exit.

"What do you mean I did it?"

"You landed every jump Yuuri, even that quad Salchow!" Yuuri stared at him in disbelief.

"I, I did?" Victor jumped into Yuuri's arms and planted a soft kiss to his lips in celebration. Yuuri returned the kiss and held onto Victor tightly. His previous thoughts returned to him and he couldn't hide the small quivers that began to take over his body. Victor pulled back slowly but didn't release his hold on the smaller man.

"Hey now, what's that for? You did so well, I'm so proud of you." Yuuri's body began to shake more and a few muted sobs escaped his lips.

"I just can't get over the fact that you are leaving tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do. I only just got you and I don't even really know what we are right now but I don't want you to go." Yuuri exclaimed with rising hysteria, and Victor led him over to the benches at the side of the rink to sit down and pulled Yuuri into his embrace once again.

"I know. I don't want to leave either. I've enjoyed being here with you and I am going to miss you so much. But, we will see each other again in competitions, right? You know I'm only just a phone call away from you." Victor began to trace his fingers over the soft material of Yuuri's shirt sleeve, the repetitive motion and soft words helping to ground the frantic skater. "As for what we are, well, I guess I've come to think of us as boyfriends." Victor paused for a second to let the phrase sink in but continued on hastily. "I know that it might be too soon for you, and that long distance relationships can be hard, but I really do adore you, my Yuuri, and I can't bear the thought of leaving you without making sure you aren't going to disappear from me somehow," Yuuri cut of his rambling speech with a soft, somewhat shaky, kiss.

"I'm not going anywhere." The tears glimmered from the corners of his eyes like stars. "I like the sound of 'boyfriends' too, boyfriend." Victor let out a huffed laugh before leaning back in for another kiss. They were jolted out of their intimate moment by a sudden loud voice echoing around the room from the tannoy system.

"Uh, I hate to ruin the moment guys, but public hours are going to be starting soon so you are probably going to want to get a move on." The receptionist on the front desk had become something of a friend to the pair and was the first to notice the change in their relationship dynamic the first day they walked into the rink holding hands and with huge smiles on their faces. Both Victor and Yuuri giggled slightly as they moved away from one another and started to pack up Yuuri's sports bag with the occasional brush of fingers.

Once everything had been collected up, the two skaters walked out to the lobby hand-in-hand. They bid their farewells, and Victor's final goodbye, to the receptionist who gave them a cheeky wink and a wave, before starting the walk home.

The energy between the two men had changed during the walk back to Yuuri's apartment. Both men had become significantly more aware of the lack of time left together and this had led to them stumbling up the stairs, hands shaking as the door key was pushed into the lock, fingers twinging into strands of hair and grasping to the skin at the nape of a neck as Yuuri was pulled into Victor's body in a heated kiss the second the door closed behind them. The unusual lack of Makkachin's immediate welcome wasn't even acknowledged as the pair were wrapped up in one another's kiss. Victor's hands were clasped at the back of Yuuri's head, while Yuuri's were clawing at Victor's shoulders through his shirt when they both simultaneously froze at the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly, staring at each other in shock and confusion.

"Hello boys, lovely day for it."

Victor and Yuuri sprang apart and spun to look further into the room. They were met with the sight of Phichit sat on the sofa with a devious smirk while Makkachin was curled up around his legs, wagging his tail frantically.

* * *

After Yuuri managed to regain the ability to speak after becoming so embarrassed, the three skaters sat together in the living area, Makkachin on the floor in front of them, with Phichit eyeing up the other two, who were sat so close that their sides may have well been fused together, with a curious smile.

"So," Yuuri couldn't hold the younger's gaze and turned his eyes away with a blush. "How long has this been going on then?" Yuuri buried his face into a cushion he had grabbed, so the older man took charge of the explanation.

"Uh, well it's been a few weeks I guess but we only made it official so to say, this afternoon." Victor watched Phichit with a cautious gaze but could see the delight in his eyes.

"Yuuri! I'm so happy for you!" Yuuri slowly emerged from the cushion to meet his best friend's gaze. "Really I should have guessed this was coming, what with your obsession, all the posters and copying his routines." Phichit wasn't deterred by the panicked look on Yuuri's face as he was rambling on but he was cut off by Victor.

"Posters?" Phichit looked over at Yuuri incredulously.

"You mean you haven't shown him?" Yuuri shook his head slowly, face lighting up in red once more. "Oops." Victor started bounding up and down on the sofa and grabbed Yuuri's hands.

"You have posters? Of me?" Yuuri didn't respond but Phichit nodded excitedly. "Oh Yuuri, that's so cute! I want to see them. Right now." Yuuri mumbled out an inaudible response, but Phichit spoke up again.

"I know I'm here a day early, so where are you going to sleep tonight Victor?" Yuuri's blush instantly deepened by a few shades at the innuendo in Phichit's tone.

"Oh don't worry, I'll sleep on the sofa tonight." Victor placated the situation effortlessly after noticing that Yuuri wasn't comfortable with the suggestive nature of Phichit's request. In fact, despite their new found closeness, the pair hadn't shared a bed again since Yuuri's meltdown after Makkachin's arrival.

"Hmmm, ok then. Well I think I'm going to hit the hay because I'm extremely jetlagged and I have no idea what day of the week it is right now. There's pizza in the fridge by the way." Phichit mused before standing up, waving to the pair on the sofa, and shuffling down the hallway and into his room, shutting the door behind him.

Victor immediately springs up and grabs the cold pizza from the fridge, bringing it over to share with Yuuri. The pair are comfortable wrapped in their silence for the time being, reflecting on the past few hours, before the hour becomes late and Victor calls for an early night. Yuuri grabs a spare blanket out of his wardrobe and gives it to victor who remained sat on the sofa with Makkachin who had moved up to lie at his feet. Yuuri draped the blanket over his boyfriend and tucked the edges around Makkachin, before returning to give Victor a brief kiss then headed to his own room and got into bed, unshed tears fogging his vision.

Not too long after, the beam of light coming into Yuuri's room widened as the door was pushed open. A fluffy mass jumped on the bad and nosed at Yuuri until he opened his arms to allow Makkachin to comfort him. Makkachin licked at his face and distracted Yuuri as the door opened once more before closing completely. Yuuri's back dipped as the mattress took on an extra weight, before a pair of pale arms wrapped around Yuuri's torso, and a feather light kiss was placed in his hair. Yuuri shifted his weight backwards into Victor's body before falling asleep with his head resting over the taller man's heart.

* * *

The airport was small but crowded. Thousands of conversations were being held in the lobby by the check in desks, but none seemed quite as important as the one Yuuri and Victor were faced with. The taxi ride to the airport had been quiet, with Phichit distracting Makkachin while the couple basked in their final few hours together. Before they could put off the inevitable any longer, Victor's flight's check in desk had opened and it was time to say goodbye. Victor grasped Yuuri's neck and held him close against his body.

"This isn't the end Мой дорогой. I promise we will see each other again soon." Yuuri could no longer contain his tears and they began to snake their way down his cheeks to be absorbed off of his chin by Victor's shirt. The final call for luggage check in was announced and Yuuri had to let Victor go.

"Th- Thank you." Yuuri said, voice shaking. "Thank you for everything you have done." Victor placed his hand on Yuuri's cheek.

"You are more than welcome. Practice that routine lots for me okay? I want to see you beat me the next time we meet." Victor pulled Yuuri close for one final kiss before taking Makkachin's lead from Phichit and hauling the whining dog away, looking back for a last glimpse before turning a corner and out of Yuuri's sight.

Phichit pulled a shaking Yuuri against him in a comforting hug before gently directing him back towards the taxis. Once they had climbed inside, Phichit gave the driver their address and tunred to his housemate.

"So, what is this I hear about a new routine?" he asked gently. Yuuri broke down into waves of uncontrollable sobs as the taxi took them away from the airport.

Away from Victor.

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 **I hope you enjoyed this and that it was worth the wait. Feel free to express your opinions in a comment and/or follow/favourite it now that I'm hoping to back updating more regularly again.**

 **BN x**


	13. Chapter 12: Since You Been Gone

**Here's a new chapter for you! This one was abit of a struggle to get to you but it's here now so I hope you like it.**

 **Title: Since You Been Gone - Rainbow**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Three months is a long time to be physically away from your brand new boyfriend, or so Victor had decided. Although he had spoken to Yuuri every day, it just wasn't the same as being in the same apartment and being able to touch him whenever he wanted or to kiss him at all hours of the day if he felt like it. Their relationship hadn't suffered over with despite the distance and time zones between them, however it was a struggle at the start to sync up their training schedules in order to get a sufficient amount of 'boyfriend time' in per day. As the start of the season drew nearer, Yuuri seemed more distant than usual, not replying to texts as often or having to end their phone calls early. Victor understood however because training was being kicked up a notch for the both of the skaters and time was of the essence. Victor had also been keeping an eye on Phichit's Instagram, as a slightly more reliable source to check that his Yuuri was doing ok, as Phichit was constantly providing the world with pictures of his misadventures with Yuuri in and around the rink. So, when Yuuri suddenly stopped appearing online too, Victor started to get worried. The pair remained in contact to some degree, however there were suddenly days when Yuuri wouldn't pick up the phone or would take hours to answer a text. His voice was starting to sound strained but whenever Victor tried to delicately pry some information out of him, Yuuri would just claim stress and then promptly discover a reason to hang up the phone.

Finally, the day that skaters around the world had been waiting for, finally arrived. The list was published, announcing the assignments for each skater for the upcoming Grand Prix series. Victor was sleeping in after a late night attempting to talk to Yuuri on the phone, when the tell-tale buzzing of an incoming call roused him. Victor jumped up, startling a sleeping Makkachin, and grabbed the phone, accepting the call without checking the caller ID, expecting it to be his Yuuri.

"Hi Yuu-" A harsh voice on the other end of the line cut him off.

"It's me, check the assignments." Yakov's distinct growls echoed from the speaker.

"Oh. Hi Yakov, are they up already?" Victor had slightly lost track of what day it was after a lot of late nights and early mornings.

"Yes, and there's something you need to see." Yakov hung up after his slightly mysterious statement and left Victor listening to a dial tone.

"Okay then Yakov, nice talking to you too." Victor mumbled to himself as he grabbed his laptop from by Makkachin's tail and hit the start-up button. While the computer was booting up, Victor sent a quick text to Yuuri.

 **To My Yuuri 3 3**

 **From Me**

Hi Yuuri! Hope you get good assignments today and I reeeeeeeallllllllly hope we get to see each other before the final! I miss you 3 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The email had indeed come through and Victor rubbed at his tired eyes to get them to focus enough to actually read the small printed words in front of him. Victor glanced to his phone quickly before checking the lists to see if Yuuri had replied, but when the phone screen remained blank, he took the time difference into account and realised that Yuuri probably wasn't even up yet so he shrugged it off and let himself concentrate on the assignments. After a quick scan of the document, Victor saw that he had been assigned to the Cup of China, competing against Chris and Phichit, and Skate America, with Yurio. Victor pouted slightly at the lack of Yuuri in both of his qualifiers and read over the list again to see where his boyfriend would be competing.

After the fifth careful read through the entire list, Victor had to accept that Yuuri was nowhere on the list. At all. He wasn't competing in the Grand Prix series, but what hurt Victor more was that Yuuri hadn't told him. Victor became frantic. Why was Yuuri not competing? Was he injured? Had something happened to his family? Victor was pulled out of his worries but the sound of his phone buzzing again. The name Yuri popped up on the screen but it wasn't the Yuuri that he was hoping for. After ignoring the call and letting it go to voicemail twice, Yurio hadn't given up and Victor resigned himself to see what the young skater wanted to say.

"Yurio, what-" Once again, the caller cut him off.

"Where the fuck is the Piggy? Why isn't he on the assignments?" Yurio's sharp voice dragged Victor into focus.

"I don't know Yurio, he hasn't said anything to me about it and he hasn't answered my text this morning." Victor's voice wobbled as Yuuri's disappearance started to fully hit home.

"First of all, don't call me fucking Yurio. Secondly, text him again you idiot! Don't just leave it, I demand answers!" Yurio hung up the phone.

Victor stared at the blank screen for a second before taking Yurio's advice and sending another, slightly more frantic sounding text.

 **To My Yuuri 3 3**

 **From Me**

Yuuri? What's going on? Please, please answer me. I'm worried Yuuri. Xx

Victor held the phone up against his forehead as he tried to calm down with some deep breathing, a tip he had learnt for Yuuri a few months before. Victor suddenly felt a cold, wet smudge along his cheek and turned his head to the side to find Makkachin nosing at his face in concern. Victor smiled weakly at his loyal dog before gathering the mass of fur into his arms and letting himself sink down into the duvet with his face buried in Makkachin's side.

* * *

A few hours later and Victor could be found in much the same position. Yakov had texted him to give Victor the day off in order to try and get himself together, with a strict command that he better show up at the rink the following day, on pain of death. Other than that, Victor's phone had remained silent, despite the flurry of texts and voicemails that Victor had left for Yuuri to answer. After moping for a considerable amount of time, Victor picked up his phone again and started trawling the internet to try and find out anything he could about why Yuuri might have dropped out of the series. The internet only provided some very sceptical sounding rumours but it did remind Victor of a much more reliable source in the form of a link to Phichit's Instagram page on a credited photo of Yuuri in one article from a year ago.

Victor clicked into the app and straight into his direct messages, without sparing a second glance at his own notices.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

PHICHIT. Please tell me you know what's going on with Yuuri, he's not answering my texts or calls and I'm so worried. Phichit please.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night in America, according to Victor's calculations, Phichit replied within minutes.

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit+chu**

Ugh, that boy. I told him to tell you but does he listen to me, the ultimate source of all wisdom and knowledge? Nooooooooooooo of course not.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

Come on Phichit, at least let me know that he is alright.

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit+chu**

Uhh, I'm not sure if I'd say fine but he decided to drop out of the season a few months back and actually dropped Ciao ciao as coach too so I think he's considering retiring.

Victor almost dropped his phone in shock and he had to reread the message several times before he could begin to accept this new information. He spent a few moments trying to work out the best way to get Yuuri to actually speak to him and he eventually decided that the only option was to approach it head on.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

He did?! But why? No wonder he's been sounding weird in phone calls… If I were to hypothetically come and find him in Detroit, I'd assume I could find him holed up in the apartment?

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit+chu**

Hypothetically huh? Well, _hypothetically_ , you wouldn't actually find him in Detroit. He went back home to spend some time with his family. Anyway, he'd hate himself if he was the cause of you throwing away the competition to chase after him instead of practicing.

Victor sighed in frustration. Phichit really was the source of all wisdom. Victor realised that maybe hastily running off to America, or Japan as it turns out, would indeed mess up his training schedule and therefore could impact his chances in the Grand Prix. Phichit was definitely right about Yuuri blaming himself and that would push the younger skater even further away, which is the exact opposite of what Victor wanted.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

Yeah, I guess you're right. Do you think you could you try and get a message to him for me?

 **To v-nikiforov**

 **From phichit+chu**

Sure thing Nikiforov, no promises that I can get him to message or call you though.

 **To phichit+chu**

 **From v-nikiforov**

I understand that, Chulanont, just let him know that I don't hate him but I'm a little upset that he didn't talk to me about this. I just want to hear his voice to know he's okay. Tell him I miss him and that I'll always be here whenever he wants to talk to me again. Thank you, and I'll see you in China I guess.

Victor let the response pop up on his screen before closing the application and letting the phone fall from his hand and hit the mattress. Makkachin reached his head up and licked a strip across Victor's cheek again before pawing at his leg.

"I suppose I'd better take you out, huh Makka?" The large poodle jumped up in excitement and bounded off the bed and towards the front door. Victor dragged himself out of his bed and hastily threw on some clothes before taking his dog into the outside world, hoping that the fresh air would help to calm his mind.

* * *

The following day, Victor's alarm blared through the room and woke him from a restless sleep. The skater still hadn't come to terms with Yuuri's decision and the young man was still occupying the main proportion of his thoughts. Victor just about remembered to feed Makkachin and let him outside briefly before heading off to the rink for practice. His mind was turning over and over and he was only pulled from his thoughts when Yakov grabbed his shoulder to sit him on a bench, that he had conveniently stood in front of, to encourage him to put his skates on.

"You have to keep focused, forget the boy and skate." Victor had often thought that Yakov was missing some basic human emotions, sympathy being one of them.

After sitting on that bench for an unreasonably long period of time, Victor finally laced up his skates and stood to take the ice. Just as he put his hand on the wall to balance himself when removing his skate guards, a loud voice echoed across the large, open room.

"OI. Victor!" Victor spun around to face the short blond as he stalked over to the edge of the rink, moving swiftly in a blur of black leather and leopard print. "So, where is Piggy then? He better have a fucking good explanation for this."

"Anyone would think that you cared Yura." Victor chuckled lifelessly as Yurio spluttered in protest before turning away to face the ice. "He dropped his coach and pulled out of the series to go back to Japan, according to his roommate."

"You didn't even speak to him, you idiot?"

"Not for lack of trying, believe me. He still hasn't even looked at any of my texts, let alone answer them." Yurio looked up at the older skater with a scowl that Victor couldn't work out if it was directed at his listlessness or at Yuuri's lack of communication.

"Just get on the ice, old man. Maybe you can skate it off." With that, Yurio turned on the heel of his leopard print trainers and stomped off in Yakov's direction. Victor sighed again, for what felt like the hundredth time that morning alone, before finally removing his skate guards and pushing himself into the centre of the rink.

Victor began to ease his way into his upcoming free skate programme, mostly marking his jumps, with his eyes focused only on the ice in front of him, while he started to warm up his muscles. Towards the end of his programme was his signature quadruple flip. Victor felt like his muscles were ready to land the jump so he started to build up the speed he would need to get the rotations in. Half way across the rink, Victor added a step sequence that he remembered he had put into Yuuri's short programme and his mind wandered back to his boyfriend once more. As Victor swung his right leg to pick the ice and launch himself into the flip, he heard Yakov shout his name and finally looked up to see the rink wall looming far closer than he predicted. He couldn't slow his momentum and ended up throwing himself into the jump but trying to drop the rotations in order to prevent himself crashing into the barrier. With all his focus on slowing his forward momentum, Victor wasn't paying attention to the height of the jump and his blades ended up slamming into the ice at an unexpected angle. The experienced skater lost his legs from underneath him and could only watch as the reflection of his shocked face in the ice below, rushed up to meet him before sudden blackness took over.

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 **Do let me know what you thought, even if you just want to tell me how much you hate me after that cliffhanger...**

 **BN x**


	14. Chapter 13: Purple Rain

**Hey, it's new chapter time! I've finally managed to work out how much further I want to take this story and the end is in sight! I have some good stuff planned for the last few chapters so I hope you will stick around right to the end.**

 **Chapter title: Purple Rain - Prince**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The streets of Hasetsu had not changed much since the last time Yuuri had walked them. Although since he had taken a short break after his abysmal performance in the GPF almost a year ago, he supposed there hadn't been much time for change. He had just never expected to be back so soon. He had turned up on the doorstep of his family's onsen and was welcomed in with open arms, as you might expect from the kind-hearted Katsuki family. Even Yuuri's usually stoic big sister didn't pry or tease him, just placed a hand on his shoulder as he walked past and then continued on her way. That had been weeks ago now. He hadn't talked to Victor in almost as long either.

Yuuri let out a loaded sigh as he trudged back home from the ice rink, almost on autopilot. It had been good to see Yuuko and her family again, however being coerced into teaching the triplets a thing or two on the ice hadn't been on his agenda. In fact, it had been Yuuko who informed him that Victor was reported to have taken a nasty fall in training and no one had heard from him since. Rumours were flying about Victor having to drop out of the Grand Prix or potentially the entire season. Injuries ranged from a broken ego leaving Victor too embarrassed to confess to his fans, to broken bones and shattered dreams. Yuuri was worried for Victor, no matter what happened to him. It was unlike Victor to take a break from social media or the limelight of the paparazzi for too long, but Yuuri was clinging to the hope that if something serious had happened, Yurio at least, would have the sense to let him know.

As he approached his home, Yuuri could hear a faint barking and reminisced about a time long ago when his own dog would skid across the smooth floors to greet him at the door with a little excited yipping noise. Yuuri sighed once more before plastering on a fake smile, so as not to worry his parents, before pushing the door open and kicking his shoes off. As his back was turned to put his shoes away, Yuuri heard a strange clacking noise as if something large was skidding towards him. He turned sharply but before he could register what was flying his way, a large brown poodle slammed into his legs and bowled him onto the floor. Yuuri looked up at the soulful brown eyes and realised this was not the first time that this dog in particular had knocked him off his feet.

"M-Makkachin?" Yuuri whispered into the chocolate curls as the dog wound its way around his body. A second pair of footprints Makkachin into the room and Yuuri shot his head up, not really knowing if he wanted to see Victor standing in front of him in that moment. However, he ended up seeing his mother watching him instead.

"Welcome home! I see our four-legged guest found you then." Hiroko laughed at her son, still buried under the heavy lump that was Makkachin. "I'm so glad that Vicchan brought him here too." Yuuri glanced up at his mother

"Vicchan? You mean Victor?" Yuuri pushed Makkachin to one side and tentatively stood while keeping a hand lowered to brush against the dog's head.

"Yes, silly boy, Vicchan. He was really wanting to wait for you to get back home but was dreadfully jetlagged, so I sent him off to your room to sleep." Yuuri's face dropped at the knowledge that Victor had been housed in his own room.

"W-Why my room? Also, did he say why he was here?" Yuuri asked, almost fearing that answer to his second question.

"He said he was here to see you! He seemed to know you quite well and we don't really have that many free rooms prepared right now so your father and I decided that your room would probably be more comfortable for him."

"Oh, so Dad's in on this too, huh" Yuuri mumbled under his breath but just shook his head when Hiroko looked at him with furrowed brows, having not heard him.

"You should go check on him, we got the feeling he was wanting to see you as soon as possible." Hiroko gave her son a warm smile before walking over to press a kiss to his cheek and give Makkachin a nose rub, before pottering off to work somewhere else in the building.

Yuuri watched her disappear around a corner and then turned and sprinted in the direction of his own room, only slowing to pause for a few minutes outside his door. After taking a few deeps breaths to steady himself, Yuuri gently tapped on the door frame before pulling it aside to reveal the darkness within. It took Yuuri's eyes a few minutes to adjust, but once they had they could clearly make out a sleeping Victor, curled up on his bed in one of the onsen's robes. Yuuri let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding and tip-toed over to the side of the bed. When closer to the sleeping body, Yuuri could see that long pale arms had latched onto his pillow as Victor seemed to be squeezing the life out of the long dead feathery down inside. A curtain of silver blocked most of Victor's face and Yuuri couldn't stop himself from lightly brushing the misbehaving strands out of the way. Somehow, revealing Victor's face made the whole event even more overwhelming and Yuuri had to hurry back out of the room before he inevitably made a fool out of himself in front of a sleeping Victor. As Yuuri left the room, he didn't see the bright blue gaze that followed his back, nor heard the sigh of sorrow that was released as the door closed behind him.

Yuuri followed Makkachin back out into the main entry way where his father was standing behind the desk and Mari was busy hustling around some guests in the adjoining dining space. Before he could sit himself down at the nearest kotatsu and have a long internal debate about what to do next, his father interrupted his warring thoughts.

"Hey Yuuri? I don't think Vicchan's dog has been out properly since they got here. It might be an idea to take him for a walk." Despite, presumably, not speaking Japanese, Makkachin seemed to realise what was going on and started bouncing around even more sporadically than before.

"Yuuri, for crying out loud, get that dog out of here for a while so it doesn't knock anything over in here." The sound of Mari's disgruntled whinging travelled between the rooms and Yuuri didn't dignify her with a response but walked over to put his shoes back on again. Yuuri finally managed to sweet talk Makka into her collar and lead and they pair head off into the outside world. Before too long, Yuuri feet had taken him to the beach, which was thankfully empty, so he could let Makkachin run free for a while. After releasing the dog, Yuuri sat down on the sea wall overlooking the wide expanse of sand and watched the brown blur run to and fro along the sandy plains. After a while, dark clouds began to roll in across the sky and Yuuri called Makkachin back to his side, grateful that he was obedient enough to listen after a good long run around. After clipping the lead back onto the dog's collar, Yuuri began to lead them back towards home.

"You know Makkachin, I feel really bad for leaving him. I should have just told him, like Phichit said I should but I couldn't." Makkachin looked up with big doleful eyes and Yuuri couldn't help but release all his inner torment, as a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. "I just couldn't deal with it, you know? It got the better of me and I couldn't even pluck up the courage to tell Victor that I wouldn't be skating Eros. I was a coward Makka, and I didn't want him to see how weak I really am. Why would he want to be in a relationship with someone like that? I had more than I ever could have hoped for and I ruined it." Makkachin leaned over and licked a stripe up the hand holding onto the other end of the lead. Which made Yuuri giggle emptily. "I don't deserve your love Makka, and I sure as hell don't deserve Victor. Why is he here?" Yuuri gazed into the dog's eyes again. "Do you know? Why are you both here?"

Yuuri's musings were brought to a halt when he reached the entryway to the onsen. The rain seemed to fall heavier as he let himself and Makkachin inside before removing his own shoes and Makkachin's collar, shutting out the sound of raindrops falling on the patio. Once everything had been put away, Yuuri turned to seek out one of his parents to see if they had a job he could be doing to distract him from the silver-haired skater resting in his bedroom. Once he entered the dining room however, he stopped as he was frozen in place by an icy blue stare.

"I see you borrowed my dog."

* * *

Yuuri's whole family had joined Victor around a single kotatsu, leaving only a small space for Yuuri to sit at, uncomfortably close to Victor's side. After waving away Yuuri's stuttered apology for taking Makkachin out, neither Victor nor Yuuri had spoken a single word to each other, however Victor's attention wavered rarely from Yuuri. A few moments passed with conversation between Yuuri's family and Victor while Yuuri himself gently pushed the strips of katsudon pork around his bowl. Yuuri looked up to see Mari staring at him with a confused expression and he hurriedly at a few mouthfuls of food to try and get her off his back. However, Mari was too inquisitive to let Yuuri's unusual behaviour slide without discussion.

"Yuuri," she began, holding her hand to her face inquisitively, "Are you not eating because of whatever the hell is going on between you and Victor?" She smirked cheekily at her younger brother as his face began to flush. Yuuri tried to stutter out some kind of excuse but his mother interrupted him.

"Vicchan, is something the matter with you and our Yuuri?" Victor glanced at Yuuri again, who was refusing to make eye-contact with anyone at the table.

"Well, I met Yuuri at Christophe's party and we got on really well, so I actually ended up spending some time with him in America. I was helping him with a new routine and things kind of escalated and we started, uh, seeing each other just before I had to go back to Russia to train myself. We kept in contact for a few months and then Yuuri kind of disappeared without saying something, I didn't even know he had dropped out of the season until the heat competition assignments went out." Yuuri's family listened intently to Victor's story, eyes growing wider with each development. Once he had finished accounting the more recent events, three pairs of eyes turned to Yuuri in shock. Mari seemed to recover faster than the two parents.

"So Yuuri, if I understand Victor correctly, not only have you been dating your idol, Victor Freaking Nikiforov, for months, you _ran away_ from him and didn't think to tell us any of this?" Yuuri was now staring at the table in shame, his lower lip beginning to tremble. Without saying a word, Yuuri stood from the floor and fled. Victor stretched out his hand to try and catch Yuuri's arm, but his reflexes were too slow and Yuuri hurried out of the room.

"Mari, you're too harsh on him sometimes, you know how Yuuri is." Hiroko had put her hand reassuringly on Victor's shoulder as his own arm dropped to his side.

"Okaa-san, you mean you don't think that Yuuri should have told us something, anything, so we could have tried to help him?" Victor patted Hiroko's hand lightly before standing up himself and stretching his legs. The majority of the Katsuki family were preoccupied by returning to their argument in rapid Japanese, which allowed Victor to slip away from the room unnoticed, following in the direction Yuuri had taken.

Victor firstly, went to try and find Yuuri in his room. He got lost in a few corridors but eventually found his way back to the somewhat familiar door. He slid the door to the side and saw the room was immersed in darkness, much as it had been when he left for dinner. After turning the light on, Yuuri was nowhere to be seen, so apparently had not been hiding out in a darkened corner of his room. Seeing as Victor had only arrived a few hours earlier, he had no idea where else Yuuri could have chosen to run off to. On his way back to the central room, head hanging in defeat, Victor noticed Makkachin perk up suddenly and rush over to a nearby door which seemed to lead outside when Victor cracked it open slightly. It was raining heavily now, and Victor was reluctant to head outside but Makkachin had fully nosed the door open and had run out into the gardens. Victor huffed out a disgruntled breath at his overenthusiastic dog and followed the poodle outside.

After wandering around in the rain for a few minutes, Victor came across a small pond that was partially covered by the long branches of a willow tree that brushed against the lush grass. Victor could hear Makkachin's unique yipping noises which prompted the skater to push through the leafy branches into the cover of the large tree. While the leaves blocked out most of the heaviest rainfall, some drops managed to work their way through and fall to land on either Victor's head or the ground surrounding him.

The noises being created by Makkachin were coming from the other side of the tree, as confirmed by the furiously wagging tail that Victor could see sticking out from behind the trunk. As Victor moved around to try and get the poodle's attention, he realised that they were not the only ones hiding from the rain under the willow.

Yuuri was sitting on the sodden grass with his back leaning against the bark of the tree and Makkachin's head on his lap. Victor could see Yuuri's shoulders tense as he sensed that he was no longer alone, but the younger man made no attempt to move so Victor ventured closer and slowly sank to the floor to sit beside the tree. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes as Victor knew that Yuuri would talk to him in his own time, when he felt he was ready.

Victor's fringe was slowly beginning to stick to his forehead as the rain fell through the gaps in the canopy, when Yuuri's head dropped onto Victor's shoulder. Yuuri leant his weight into Victor side and the older man braved wrapping his arm over Yuuri's shoulders to draw him closer when he began to speak.

"I'm sorry." Yuuri whispered. Victor gave his shoulders a squeeze to encourage him but didn't interrupt. "I just… I found some things online, they were just from some stupid rumour site, but they were talking about all the interaction we'd been having on social media and speculating all sorts of things. They were making up all sorts of stories about our relationship and so many people said I couldn't possibly be worth all the time you spent talking to me, I'm just the no-good skater from Japan." Yuuri paused as he took a deep breath. "I guess I just couldn't deal with all that negativity, it was weighing down on my mind and my skating was suffering, I hadn't performed Eros right in weeks and I just lost control. I fell off the grid and came back home to hide away from it all. I couldn't tell you, because I thought that if you thought about it, maybe you'd realise they were right."

Yuuri's voice had drifted off to near silence towards the end of his confession and tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes before falling uninhibited. Victor softly wiped away the tears with his fingertips before placing a soft, light kiss into the younger's hair before trailing his fingers through the black locks. There was silence again between the two as Victor was softly trying to calm Yuuri down with his caresses.

"I would never think that Yuuri." Victor spoke up unprompted into the evening air. "I got injured when attempting a jump without paying attention to where in the rink I was, and I had to try and lose momentum mid-air to land before I hit the wall. I ended up tearing a tendon on landing which meant I couldn't maintain balance and fell head-first into the ice." Yuuri released a small gasp of shock after realising the severity of Victor's injury, but Victor carried on speaking. "Yakov told me I'm not allowed to skate for a month and to take a break to try and regain some focus. I realised after a few days that that meant making sure you were alright. So officially, I'm here on holiday to recuperate after my injury. Unofficially, I'm here for you."

The sky had turned to a deep navy as the night rolled in behind a curtain of raincloud. Yuuri stifled a yawn into Victor's shoulder which prompted the silver-haired skater to rouse himself from the floor to get Yuuri back inside. Not much else was said as Victor held out a hand to help Yuuri up before leading him back into the house, with a sopping wet poodle following closely behind. Yuuri refused to let go of Victor's hand as they got some towels to dry off with, nor as they got closer to Yuuri's room, until he pulled them both inside. In fact, he only let go once the door was firmly closed and he had to rummage around to find some dry pyjamas to change into. Victor turned his back politely while Yuuri changed and only made to turn back when he felt Yuuri's arms circle his waist.

"Let me leave you to sleep, I can ask your parents if there's another room free." Victor whispered in an attempt not to break the calm mood that had settled. Yuuri's arms gripped tighter and he tugged Victor backward until they both fell in a heap of tangled limbs onto Yuuri's bed while they giggled lightly.

"Please don't leave." Yuuri said in a small voice once their mirth had subsided. In response, Victor managed to wiggle around to face Yuuri and then wound his arms around the slightly stockier body.

"Never." Victor whispered into the crook of Yuuri's neck before allowing the soft breathing to lull him asleep.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it (do let me know!) and I will see you all for the next chapter.**

 **BN x**


	15. Chapter 14: In These Arms

**So it's been a little while between uploads again but hopefully this chapter is worth the wait.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Title: In These Arms - Bon Jovi**

* * *

Victor roused himself from sleep as he felt as soft tickling at his nose. He wrinkled his nose slightly to try and move the curls of hair from his face but didn't want to move too much as he knew that Makkachin always picked up on his movements and realised he was awake, signalling play time. When the scratchy feeling didn't disappear, Victor sighed and resigned himself to sweep the fur away with his hand and no doubt letting Makkachin wake him up fully with dog-lick kisses. However, when Victor reached up to brush at his nose, he came into contact with hair that was soft and nothing at all like Makkachin's wiry fur. Victor's brow creased as he tried to convince himself to open his eyes and see what was before him. Once he had managed to wake up a little bit more, Victor leaned back a little to try and clear the sleep from his eyes, but he was closely followed by the body in front of him as he was chased for his body heat. Victor snapped fully awake instantly as he saw inky black hair framing a face that was smoothed with peaceful sleep. Yuuri shuffled ever closer to the taller man and buried his face into Victor's neck, sniffling slightly. Victor hated seeing Yuuri upset and the day before had been really hard on him, so he decided to forgo his usual early bird routine in order to spend more time cuddled with Yuuri.

Victor smiled down softly at the sleeping man and praises every deity he can think of that he was able to have this opportunity back in his life. He had felt lost without Yuuri speaking to him properly for the past few months. Victor began running his fingers through Yuuri's hair, almost subconsciously as he thought over everything that had occurred since he had arrived in Japan. After a few minutes, Victor's thoughts return to the gods and he found himself praying that his Yuuri would never feel the need to distance himself like that again. Victor understood why Yuuri felt that he had to drop everything and leave, he just wished that they would have had the opportunity to talk it through together, so he wasn't left quite so in the dark. Looking down at Yuuri's face, it showed that he was more relaxed buried in the crook of Victor's neck that he'd seemed ever since Victor had left Detroit. Yuuri sniffed again and his nose wiggled, causing a small shiver to run up Victor's neck. Victor didn't want to wake Yuuri up, but he couldn't help giggling softly at the younger man.

In the quiet room, Victor was able to contemplate how his life had changed since he first saw Yuuri. He hadn't felt anything like this in a very long time. He had always thought that maybe his life had been missing the presence of love, but Victor unexpectedly realised that that maybe that had changed. Victor's hand froze in the middle of swiping a strand of hair out of Yuuri's face as his realisation struck him. He loved Yuuri. His Yuuri was the single most important part of Victor's life and this was something that Victor had never expected. He had always believed that his one true love was the ice, his skating, and that his love life would always be on the backburner, or at least until he retired.

As Victor was lost to his realisation, he didn't notice eyelids fluttering open and a pair of brown eyes focusing up on him. Victor only snapped back to reality when Yuuri reached up and poked the tip of his nose with his fingertip. Victor shook himself and gazed down at Yuuri, wide-eyed with affection before smiling and pecking the younger's nose with his lips in return. Yuuri opened his mouth as if to speak but froze suddenly and let out a small sneeze. Victor jolted back slightly in surprise but then laughed lightly and a wave of sneezes overcame Yuuri.

"I think you may have spent a little too long out in the rain yesterday." Victor said softly as he held the snuffling man closer to his chest. Yuuri smacked Victor's chest lightly with the palm of his hand and tried to hold in another sneeze, his eyes watering with the effort.

"No. I'm fine." Yuuri managed to huff out after pausing to take a deep breath through his mouth, his voice already starting to sound muted due to his blocked nose. Victor presses a kiss to Yuuri's forehead and rests there for a few seconds before pulling away.

"You actually feel like you've got a bit of a temperature, so you are going to stay here today so I can look after you!" Victor exclaimed in his usual upbeat fashion. Yuuri started to complain, but Victor unwound himself from the younger's arms and got up from the bed, turning to tuck Yuuri back in. Yuuri mumbled softly but turned over and let himself sink back into the pillows.

Hiroko Katsuki could be heard as Victor approached the kitchen and she appeared to be deep in a very one-sided conversation. When Victor entered the room, he saw why she wasn't being answered. Makkachin was sat by Hiroko's feet as she carefully crafted some kind of rice dish that Victor assumed was going to be served to the onsen's patrons for breakfast. Victor chuckled to himself as he watched over the scene but ended up alerting Hiroko to his entrance to the room, as she turned and opened her arms to him.

"Ohayo Vicchan! How are you?" Hiroko's cheerful nature instantly made Victor feel at home and he almost ran into the woman's arms, despite being a considerable amount taller than her.

"I'm good Mama Katsuki but I think Yuuri has gotten a bit sick. He was out in the cold for a while last night." Hiroko released Victor but kept a hold of his hands as she dragged him over to the counters.

"Ok then, lets get him some comfort food." Victor got roped into making a portion of breakfast for Yuuri and Hiroko also quickly created a steaming mug of something that Victor thought smelled awful, but Hiroko assured him Yuuri would appreciate. Victor held the mug as far away from himself as possible as he returned to Yuuri's room with Makkachin on his heels. While making his way through the corridors of the onsen, Victor debated the benefits on buying a hot-water bottle for Yuuri but eventually decided that Makkachin would probably do.

Yuuri was dozing when Victor re-entered the room, so Victor set the bowl of food and mug down before perching on the edge of the bed and shaking the younger skater awake. Yuuri blinked up at him sleepily. He looks around the room before sitting upright and grabbing for the mug.

"Give, give." Victor picked up the mug tentatively before handing it over with a fond smile. Yuuri took a gulp, not seeming to mind the scalding temperature, then slumped back to lean against the headboard with a long exhale.

"What even is that? It smells really odd." Victor leaned away as Yuuri held the cup out towards him.

"It's Negi-Miso-Yu. It's made with green onion and miso in boiling water and our family always makes it when Mari or I are ill." Victor still wasn't too convinced at the health benefits of the concoction but let Yuuri drain the whole mug. Yuuri leant over towards where Victor had placed the bowl of breakfast on the bedside table but stopped suddenly when he caught sight of his alarm clock. "I'm supposed to be at the rink in an hour!" Yuuri made to leap up from the bed but Victor was faster and grabbed his shoulders to keep his sitting.

"I don't think you should be going to the rink to practice like this. You'll just end up getting sicker." Yuuri began to protest but ended up being interrupted by a barrage of quick sneezes.

"I wasn't going to practice," Yuuri mumbled once the sneezing fit had passed, "I'm supposed to be teaching the triplets today." Victor placed a finger to his lips in thought before smiling widely.

"I'll go instead! You really do need to stay here and get better; besides I really want to meet Yuuko."

"You're not supposed to be skating." Yuuri protested weakly.

"I don't have to be on the ice to teach Yuuri. It'll be fun!" Victor smiled his signature 'Yuuri' smile and the younger skater noticeably wilted in defeat.

"Ah, fine. I'll stay here, but if I find out from Yuuko that you did anything embarrassing I'll make you sleep in the spare room." Victor looked at Yuuri in horror and swore that he would behave.

Victor ended up leaving Makkachin with Yuuri to act as his hot-water bottle and got directions from Mari before heading out to find the rink.

* * *

After taking the third turn on his left, heading over the bridge and then straight up the hill, Victor found himself at the doors of the Ice Castle. The exterior looked well cared for, if a little out-dated, but Victor knew this place had been well loved and looked after for years. He stepped forward and pushed on one of the glass doors to let himself inside. A small reception desk was situated to one side of the entrance and Victor sidled over while looking around to take the room in. At first glance it looked like no one was manning the desk but as Victor moved his hand over to the bell to call for some help, a small voice called out from under the desk. Or was it more than one voice?

"Victor?" The disembodied voice made the man jump and he snatched his hand back away from the bell. From seemingly nowhere, three small heads popped up to stare at him. The three little girls had their eyes wide and mouths slightly open. Victor's brain finally kicked into gear and realised who these girls belonged to.

"You must be the triplets? Were you waiting for Yuuri?" Victor said, hoping they knew English as his Japanese was still very limited.

"Yuuri-kun? You know Yuuri-kun?" The girl on the left jumped up and down in excitement.

"If you know Yuuri-kun are you his boyfriend?" The girl on the right piped up.

"Do you love him?" the girl in the middle asked with a serious expression. Victor froze, eyes wide as he seriously considered the possibility of these small children being witches and reading his mind. All three girls turned their heads in unison suddenly as a loud voice speaking Japanese echoed from a door in the back of the reception room. The triplets spoke a flurry of fast Japanese in return that Victor couldn't understand a word of, however he did hear his name mentioned once or twice by varying girls. Once the girls stopped speaking, there was a moment of silence before the door at the back was flung open and a young woman rushed through and stared in shock as she registered just who was standing in her ice rink. Once she had regained her composure, she looked at Victor with a sly smile.

"So, Victor Nikiforov, _do_ you love Yuuri?" The man in question spluttered out some random syllables in shock and blushed a bright red. Victor decided in that moment that Yuuko must be the devil and the triplets were her evil spawn. Yuuko just laughed at his obvious discomfort and shooed the inquisitive children out of the room when she noticed them starting to raise a phone between them to try and get pictures of the famous skater. Once the triplets had been ushered away, Victor had somewhat regained the ability to form sentences.

"Hi, sorry to bother you like this but you must be Yuuko?" The young woman blushed lightly at the recognition but didn't let it phase her.

"Yes, that's me! Sorry I wasn't at the desk to greet you and you were subjected to my daughters like that." Victor just laughed and waved away the apology.

"Don't worry yourself about it. Yuuri had pre-warned me about them to be honest." Yuuko chuckled along with him and nodded in understanding.

"Where is Yuuri by the way? He's supposed to be teaching the girls this morning."

"Oh, he actually sent me to help out in his stead because he got sick overnight and I didn't think being in a cold rink was going to help his illness." Yuuko looked concerned at the news.

"That's awful! Yuuri almost never gets sick but when he does it's always unpleasant." Yuuko paused and her eyes glazed over as she seemed to be in deep concentration. "I can't possibly keep you here if I know that Yuuri is stuck at the onsen and waiting for you to get back. Go back and I can rearrange the lesson for another time." Victor wanted to argue and stay for the lesson, but he did really want to get back to Yuuri as fast as possible so took Yuuko up on her offer with the promise to come back another time to skate for the girls. Yuuko sent him off with a wave as Victor started hurry back towards town.

On his way through the streets back to the onsen, Victor took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of a bustling street market. In an instant, Victor decided he would buy Yuuri something to try and cheer him up seeing as he was stuck in bed for the day. He wandered over to a stall that seemed to sell lots of traditional Japanese gifts and was drawn over to a collection of brightly coloured items.

* * *

Once Victor finally found his way back to Yutopia, it was around lunch time and Victor decided to check by the kitchen to see if Hiroko had made anything for Yuuri that he could take up on his way there. It was actually Toshiya that he found in the kitchen who was just putting the finishing touches on a bowl of what looked like porridge which he immediately gave to Victor with the instructions to get it to Yuuri before it went cold. Victor gave the older man a smile and a wave before heading upstairs.

As Victor approached Yuuri's door he could hear soft muffled voices and he pushed the door to the side softly to see Yuuri's back as he was sat at the desk talking to someone over skype. Makkachin was dutifully sat next to Yuuri with his head resting on the young man's knee. Victor leans against the doorframe and watches Yuuri for a few moments and zoned out slightly in thought before he heard Phichit say his name loudly and Yuuri spun around to face him.

"Hey, you're back early." Yuuri said softly, his voice still a little croaky.

"Yuuko sent me back and told me to look after you instead of teaching the triplets. She said she would rearrange a new time when you get better." Yuuri nodded slightly before turning back to wrap up his call with Phichit. Victor set the bowl of porridge on the edge of the desk and leant closer to Yuuri in order to see Phichit on the computer screen.

"How are you doing Victor, did you find the onsen alright?" Victor nodded and opened his mouth to reply but Yuuri beat him to it.

"Wait a minute, did you know that he was coming here Phichit? Did you _help_ him?" Phichit paused slightly and seemed to debate his options.

"Well anyway, good to speak to you Yuuri and nice to see you too Victor, got to go bye!" Phichit waved frantically before cutting the call but not before Yuuri and Victor saw him break down into giggles. Yuuri turned to Victor and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Victor looked away from him and saw the bowl he'd put on the desk.

"Here, your dad wanted me to get this to you before it went cold." Yuuri looked at him as if he wasn't going to let the subject go that easily, but took the bowl and started eating. "What actually is it anyway?"

"It's called Okayu, a rice porridge that dad always makes me when I'm sick." Yuuri offered a spoonful of the porridge to Victor, who had sat down on the edge of the bed, but he declined as he had grabbed a few snacks when he was wandering around the market. The thought of the food he had just eaten reminded him of the present in the unassuming paper bag that was still hanging from Victor's fingers. Yuuri placed the empty bowl to one side when he was finished and got up form the desk to sit next to Victor and lean against his side. Victor placed his arm over Yuuri's shoulder and brought the other hand up to show Yuuri the bag in his grip.

"I got you something in a market I found on the way back from the Ice Castle." Yuuri took the bag gingerly and looked up at Victor.

"You really didn't have to do that Victor." The older man just shrugged and pushed the gift more firmly towards Yuuri. The younger skater reached into the bag and pulled out an ornate white omamori charm, decorated with an intricately stitched black crane and silver threaded flowers. One look at the charm had Yuuri coughing and wheezing in shock. Victor hurriedly started rubbing Yuuri's back and offered him a glass of water that was on the bedside table.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with it?" Victor asked worriedly once Yuuri had recovered. Yuuri shook his head frantically.

"No, no nothing like that." Yuuri looked down at his lap, blush spreading across his face. "Omamori like this are actually given as a gift for marriage." Victor's eyes widened at the knowledge but Yuuri continued speaking. "I guess it just took me by surprise because I kind of thought you wouldn't want to date me anymore since I disappeared, let alone want anything like marriage." Yuuri's voice began to trail off by the end of the sentence. Victor immediately took both of Yuuri's hands in his and slide off the side of the bed to be knelt on the floor in front of Yuuri.

"Yurri, no. Of course I still want to date you, if you still want that too. I mean, I love you, so I'd marry you in a heartbeat." Yuuri had suddenly gone very still and was staring at him unwaveringly. Victor looked up at him in confusion. "What? What did I-" Victor paused mid-sentence as he realised what he had just confessed. "Oh god, Yuuri sorry. I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that, I wanted to tell you properly when we were ready, but I guess I just messed everything up again." Victor started to pull away but Yuuri gripped onto his hands tighter.

"No, it's ok. I guess, um, I just didn't expect you to feel the same way that I do." This time it was Victor who froze, staring at the younger man.

"Did you just-? You love me too?" Victor asked hesitantly."

"How could I not?" Yuuri replied honestly. "I've loved Victor Nikiforov for years, since I was twelve, but I think I love this Victor more. The real Victor. You."

Out of nowhere, Victor exploded into movement and sprung up from the floor, pushing himself into Yuuri, leading to them ending up in a heap of entangled limbs sprawled across Yuuri's mattress. Yuuri giggled as Victor left sprinkles of soft, affectionate kisses all over his face, before pushing the pair of them into a sitting position so he could hug Victor properly.

"I love you Victor, so much." Victor pulled back and his face shone with his signature heart shaped smile.

"I love you too Yuuri." Victor pulled back further and with a cheeky expression and a wink he presented Yuuri with the omamori charm once again. "Marry me?" Yuuri just laughed and smacked him on the arm lightly before leaning in for a deep kiss filled with emotion.

* * *

 **There's only one chapter left now but who knows how long it will take me to knuckle down and actually write it... Let me know what you thought of this one!**

 **BN x**


	16. Chapter 15: Champion

**Welcome to the end. Finally. Sorry for the wait as usual.  
Enjoy!  
Chapter title: Champion - Fall Out Boy**

* * *

Yuuri stirred as he came to, sore throat eased, and illness seemingly passed. A gentle warmth radiated across his body from a heavy presence tucked firmly into his side. In his sleep haze, Yuuri threw his arm over the body next to him, expecting to feel the soft fur of Makkachin who had refused to leave his side since he had been feeling sick the day before. The soft cotton of a pyjama shirt, taut over smooth muscle was not what Yuuri was expecting. Yuuri's eyes flew open the second he realised just who was lying next to him but was surprised to see Victor still asleep. Despite now waking up to Victor two days in a row, the disbelief was still overwhelming. Yuuri gently pried himself away from Victor in order to lean over the lithe man to reach his glasses where they sat by the edge of his pillow as always. Although, when he felt around for the familiar metallic frames, all he came into contact with was wispy fly-away strands of Victor's silver hair.

Sitting up further allowed Yuuri to see that his glasses had ended up on his bedside table, arms folded carefully and set upon a flash of silver silk. The movement over Victor's body caused the older skater to curl further towards Yuuri as he threw his arms out seeking contact which he found in the form of Yuuri's waist. Yuuri grabbed the glasses, with a needy, sleepy Russian now attached to his torso, and his finger also caught on the woven thread that was tied around the omamori charm which ended up being tugging towards him. Yuuri held the charm in his palm while he dropped his glasses on the bridge of his nose, wincing at the smudged finger prints that had somehow appeared overnight.

Despite being up somewhat early, Yuuri felt awake and was getting restless due to not being able to leave his bed for much of the day before. After making the decision to get up, Yuuri glanced down and got entranced by the sight of Victor strewn across his lap. The soft waved of fringe over Victor's forehead were begging to be brushed aside so Yuuri acquiesced and ran his fingers across the expanse of Victor's brow. Victor wrinkled his nose in response to the touch and loosened his grip, allowing Yuuri to slip away and coax him into wrapping around a pillow instead. Before leaving, Yuuri pecked a light kiss to the end of Victor's nose, grabbed a bundle of work-out clothes and scurried out of the room, shutting the door lightly behind him.

* * *

After running to the rink, Yuuri pushed through the glass double door, despite it being well before opening hours. Knowing who he would find behind the desk, Yuuri tried to skirt through the entrance hall stealthily, but Yuuko's sixth sense caught him in the act.

"Yuuri-kun! Don't think you can sneak in here without telling me exactly why Victor Nikiforov is here telling my girls he's your boyfriend." Yuuko leant over the desk in excitement, abandoning her before opening hours tasks. Yuuri blushed deeply before sighing and resigning himself to be captured and interrogated mercilessly until Yuuko got the whole story out of him.

"Ahh, Yuu-kun, he packed himself and his dog up to come here to recover from an injury." Yuuko looked at him scathingly.

"Yuuri. His injury? Is that really the only reason Victor came out here, to your exact village, to stay in your home?" Yuuri sighed and rolled his eyes to the back of his head.

"Alright, he also came to check up on why I disappeared. I guess we only really broke up in my head, so he's been my boyfriend since June I guess." Yuuko gave a satisfied smirk in response and turned to face the back of her reception still speaking to Yuuri, but getting distracted by some odd job or other, allowing Yuuri to take the opportunity to slip away towards the rink.

After changing, removing his glasses, and stepping out onto the ice, Yuuri begins his regular warm up routine. After masterfully skating his way through several figures sets and easing into a few simple double then triple jumps, Yuuri felt himself spontaneously slip into the opening moves of his Eros routine. After skating his simple half turn, into the sensual pose, hip flung out to the side, Yuuri paused and debated a full run through of the routine. The pose was held for a few beats longer than normal as Yuuri thought, before he managed to set his mind and practically threw himself into the rest of the routine. The world flew passed in a blur as Yuuri span and leaped, his heart and soul being poured into the routine, blades sure and steady as he raced through the step sequences. As if no time had passed at all, Yuuri found himself facing his nemesis, the quad salchow. Yuuri took a few extra sweeps around the rink to steady himself, taking a deep breath and focusing his thoughts. Once his mind was clear, Yuuri launched into the air and thought of Victor's hints and tips on how to land the jump but ended up letting his mind wander to the events of the last few days and the warmth in his heart at having Victor back by his side. Yuuri's blades hit the ice strong and sturdy, with barely a wobble through his legs to hint at the fact it was his least favourite jump. The grin on Yuuri's face widened as he continued with his routine, now only being able to see Victor. His body moved on autopilot as he solely focused on his other half, as if the man was watching from the side of the rink. Yuuri found himself exaggerating his movements further as he began seducing Victor as he was taught in the early stages of learning the routine.

Yuuri flew through his final spin, wrapping his arms around his body and came to a halt in the centre of the ice. His eyes flew open at the sound of enthusiastic applause echoing around the open space of the rink. Yuuri blinked through his blurred vision to see Yuuko jumping up and down, screaming in excitement, as it was the first time she had seen the routine in its entirety. However, it was the other fuzzy figure that made Yuuri pause on his way over to greet them. Glasses or not, Yuuri was able to recognise Victor anywhere.

"Yuu-kun! That was incredible!" Yuuko was still bouncing around as she praised the performance step-by-step while Victor just stared at Yuuri with an almost wistful expression.

"Ah, thanks Yuuko. It's been a while since I did the whole thing." Yuuri blushed and glanced down to stare at the ice as Victor seemed to snap out of his daze and turn to Yuuko in order to whisper something in her ear. Yuuri looked up in time to see Yuuko grin widely before turning and practically skipping back towards the reception. Victor, on the other hand, headed in the other direction towards the opening in the rink barrier and stepping out onto the ice in his gold bladed skates.

"Skate with me Yuuri." Victor spoke softly as he glided over to the younger skater, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before skating off, leaving Yuuri a blushing mess before he regained composure and followed the older man.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Yuuri said cheekily, but Victor just waved him off with a scoff and grabbed his wrist to drag them around the ice together. After a few warm-up laps for Victor, the pair break into a spontaneous routine, spinning around one another and even attempting their lifts that they had practiced back in Detroit.

From the speakers surrounding the room, the opening notes of Victor's old free programme, Stammi Vicino, began playing. Victor's eyes lit up and he spared a glance up to the tech booth windows to wave at Yuuko before sweeping Yuuri up in an improvised pair skate to the familiar music. The pair laughed as they performed some of the original chorography side by side and they both launched into a triple axel simultaneously. After they both landed solidly, Victor grabbed Yuuri and pulling him into a deep kiss before he spun him around while they both fell into uncontrollable giggles.

Once the music was over, both skaters decided to sit down for a break as Victor's ankle still wasn't back to full strength and they didn't want to risk further injury. They sat so close on the bench that their arms brushed with every movement but neither made an attempt to move away. They sipped at their sports drinks slowly while falling into light conversation that eventually circled round to talk about the upcoming season.

"When are you going back to Russia?" Yuuri asked seemingly out of nowhere, his face falling in anticipation of an answer he wasn't going to like. Victor huffed out a sigh and turned away from Yuuri's gaze

"I actually have been keeping something from you. I didn't want you to be upset with me." Yuuri grabbed Victor's hand and pulled it into his lap to begin playing with his fingers.

"I won't be upset Victor, just tell me." Yuuri leant over to light brush his lips over Victor's cheekbone in support.

"I decided to retire." Yuuri's jaw fell open in shock but Victor didn't give him time to respond. "The doctor's said I wouldn't be able to skate competitively for at least the rest of the year and I wouldn't be in a fit state to learn decent programmes for the rest of the season. I guess considering my age and all it just made sense to end on a high note after last season instead of getting knocked down next year." Yuuri nodded slowly.

"I understand that. I won't lie, I'm a little sad but I support your decision. It won't be the same without you, you know. Everyone's going to miss you at competitions and such." Victor looked up then to catch Yuuri's eye.

"What do you mean? I'll still be at the events, I'll be with you." Yuuri's brow scrunched in confusion. "What kind of coach would abandon their student like that?" Now Yuuri's eyebrows rose into his hairline in shock.

"C-Coach? What do you mean?" Victor grabbed Yuuri's other hand.

"When I decided to retire I had to think about what I would do afterwards, and the answer was simple. I'm going to become your full-time Coach!" Yuuri was dumbfounded so Victor carried on. "I honestly had more fun training and coaching you in the summer than I'd had in the past few years of competing."

"I-I mean, I'd love that, but you won't have anything to do until next year anyway because I dropped out of the GPF." Victor's lips lifted at one corner into a smirk.

"Well, funnily enough, so did I, meaning that there's an open spot in the Cup of China and Skate America next month that I've signed you up for, so long as you agree to go for it of course. We could always hold off until Worlds to give you more time to practice, but from what Eros looked like just now, you would be more than ready." Victor was looking into Yuuri's eyes in earnest while the younger skater was debating his options.

"We'd better get a Free Skate performance started then, I guess." Yuuri's eyes sparkled in excitement.

"You mean you'll do it? The Grand Prix?" Victor clutched Yuuri's hands tightly as he began to quiver in exhilaration.

" _We'll_ do it Victor. Together." Victor whooped out aloud and threw his arms around Yuuri's body as he crushed them together in a tight embrace. Yuuri pulled back far enough to place his hands on either side of Victor's face which prompted Victor to dive in for a deep kiss, during which they had to pretend they couldn't hear Yuuko cheering through the reception window.

* * *

 _"_ _And finally, the gold medallist of this year's Grand Prix Final, representing Japan, Yuuri Katsuki!"_

Yuuri stepped on the highest platform of the podium, flanked by Yuri Plisetsky, or Yurio as Victor had taken to call him, the next step down taking silver and Otabek Altin just below taking bronze. As he bent to receive the golden medal, tears began to well up in Yuuri's eyes as the emotions of the event finally got the best of him. After the national anthem of Japan had played over the speakers, Yuuri gestured for the other two medallists to join his on the highest platform for the photographers. As Yurio wrapped an arm around Yuuri's shoulders in a rare show of compassion.

"I'm glad you came back." Yuuri stared at the young boy in surprise at the softness in his tone which was replaced instantly with his next statement. "You better look after the old man." Yuuri opened his mouth to question what Yurio meant but the skaters were being ushered off the podium to do their lap of honour. Yuuri however, fell back behind Yurio and Otabek who were maintaining friendly conversation a they skated around together, in order to skate over to Victor at the edge of the rink barrier. As he got closer, he could see tears in Victor's eyes to match his own and he wrapped his boyfriend up in his arms as they sniffled through laughter together. Yuuri was aware that Phichit was standing off to the side holding up his camera but paid no attention as he pulled away from Victor's arms to present his medal to his coach. Victor runs his fingers over the metal.

"Somehow, this one seems more meaningful than all of mine put together, I love you so much." Victor spoke with a voice full of emotion and Yuuri looked on fondly as Victor raised the metal to his lips to kiss it with a smile. "Enough of this! Go for your victory lap!" Victor pushed hard on Yuuri's shoulders to propel him back into the middle of the rink. Yuuri laughed along as he slowly skated around the circumference of the ice, waving to the crowd and occasionally bending to pick up a small plush toy or flower. Yuuri rounded the last bend of the rink to see Victor in front of him again, this time holding out the small white omamori charm towards him with a golden ring balanced delicately on top.

"Victor, what-" Yuuri gasped and tried to form some kind of sentence but stopped when Victor held out his other hand to encourage him to stop and listen.

"You know, you never did answer the last time I asked you to marry me with this charm back in Japan, but maybe you will this time?" Yuuri was stunned and had to look around at the friends which had all gathered around Victor to watch the proposal for confirmation that he wasn't dreaming. After Phichit's enthusiastic nod, Yuuri turned back to Victor who raised his eyebrows in question with a soft smile on his face.

"Yes. Obviously yes. I love you, Victor" Yuuri laughed as he threw himself through the doorway in the barrier to hug Victor once again.

"I love you too, Yuuri" Victor laughed along, tears forming in his eyes again as he slid the ring onto Yuuri's finger and pulled him in for a kiss that had all their friends cheering, bar Yurio who was trying to look literally anywhere else in disgust that was probably greatly exaggerated. When the two men pulled away, Victor held up Yuuri's ringed hand towards Phichit who, Yuuri realised, had been filming the entire event.

Yuuri did however, confiscate Phichit's phone during the following engagement party where the combination of copious amounts of alcohol, neon clothing accessories and many pairs of roller-skates made for a memorable evening.

* * *

 **Thank you if you have stuck around for this crazy adventure, wrought with typos, grammatical slip ups and stupidly long waits between updates... While I'm sad to see this story come to an end, I'm happy that I managed to fight through the writer's block and get it out to you completed.  
Just to let you know, about half of this chapter was written at 1am onwards while I was watching the Olympic skating yesterday so if there are an abundance of mistakes, go easy on me.  
BN x**


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